


The end of Tomorrow

by Costumebleh



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Also featuring the ut cast from various universes, Angst, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Gore, Hurt and comfort, Nonspecified gender of reader, Other, Reader-Insert, This is like the weirdest apocalyptic fic, Violence, You guys know me ofc there's going to be fluff, You're kicking ass bigtime, alternative universes, but it is so fun to write, will try and write fightscenes, zombies ahoy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-05
Updated: 2017-06-14
Packaged: 2018-06-06 13:40:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 45,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6756457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Costumebleh/pseuds/Costumebleh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everything has gone to shit, a mistake made by humans ended up spreading and is now eating away at any biological life. The air is heavy with radiation and the number of remaining humans have dwindled to a three-zero'ed number, only the guardian-like protection of monsters manages to keep you all from completely diminishing. </p><p>Their magic potent and unaffected by the environmental changes, they try their best to cancel out the mutated species of nightmare-like beasts while keeping the few surviving humans safe. </p><p>Having lost many dear to you, you believed you were on your own.</p><p>Though the meeting with three fire-monsters seems to make you change that perception. What a mess.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Toxicity

You were coughing and gasping for air, the dusty, stale wind scratching your lungs and preventing you from properly breathing. But you had to move, you must, they weren’t far behind.

Scrabbling to stand upright, you nicked your elbow on a rusted metallic rod, a slight cry escaped your lips. Oh no, don’t make any sounds, they would notice, they would smell your blood.

Moving along the ruins of the building, you managed to cross a few hundred meters, hunched over as to try and ease the pressure on your lungs. It was hard to move stealthily, everything obscured by the heavy dust-cloud and the upcoming darkness. But you needed refuge. You were the only one left.

They couldn’t catch you, not after.

After.

Forcing yourself to suppress the memory, you moved further along the piles of rubble and steel, ignoring the pain from your various scratches and bruises.

God you can hear them. A gurgling, hungry mass of rotting flesh. All moving along to try and draw out the last of the strength in your soul. The toxicity of the air singing your skin ever so slightly. The filter in front of your mouth wasn't helping much with cleaning the air you breathed anymore, but the slight magic imbued in it prevented the radiation from fully affecting your psyche and body.

Stopping for a few breaths, you managed to check your various items to see if you were still stocked up enough to survive this encounter. Axe, check. Water bottle, check. Hunting-knife, check. Flashlight, che- ah shit.

Your flashlight was gone, the loop sewn into your jacket not containing your vital appliance. One glance above revealed that you maybe had another hour’s worth of daylight, before things got lethal with moving in the dark, and you desperately needed shelter before then.

And you were in a ruin of a city, without any clear buildings that hadn’t lost a third of its structure. This was going to be very problematic. You had hoped to stay clear of ending up in a situation such as this, but since your luck had run out long before this, you supposed that it had been inevitable.

Then you heard it. To your right, a sizzle. A warning.

Leaping forward, you just managed to dodge a spray of acid. Scrambling further, you fight to get yourself upright and moving. They were closer than you’d feared, damn it all. You couldn’t handle a battle in these conditions, with little daylight to spare and you severely exhausted from days at the run.

Breaking into a sprint only fueled by your fear, the need to _get away_ and not having to face those _things that were once human_. Adrenaline became the thing that kept you going when everything else started to fail.

A gnarled sound sounded from behind; it had noticed that it hadn’t hit you. Though the minute or so you had gained from its slow wits might just be enough to give you a head start that permitted you to outlast the night.

Please, for all the gods or other ethereal beings that might exist. Let you survive the night.

Swerving off the path you had followed thus far, you begged that it wouldn’t be able to catch you. A death at the hand of one of those acid-spewing beings was far worse than most others. You’d seen it. Almost the horde itself catching you would be a more merciful death than anything else that wrong, wrong thing had in mind for you.

Unclasping your axe from the belt, you ran with it clutched in one hand, ready to defend yourself if it became necessary. And with the way your already low luck seemed to be heading, well, you had a feeling that you wouldn’t be able to escape as unscratched from the next encounter.

Probably clearing a handful more hundred meters, you can feel the adrenaline start to wear out. Your steps becoming heavier, your fast sprint started to turn into something more alike to a slow trudge. Looking above, you saw that the sun was only half above the horizon. No, no, no. You didn’t have enough time.

Desperation started to seep into your mind, you needed shelter. Your life would depend on even a shoddy half-rotten piece of wood above your head, something that permitted you to gain a chance of getting away from the zombies.

Yes, zombies. Soul-seeking, leeching, lethal and toxic beings that matched a look similar to the most morbid of its fellows from your teenage horror-movies. While there was no specific word for them, most humans tended to use the synonym to whichever real cause there was for this dangerous horde of radiation-expelling beings.

Sadly, one thing they different from compared to the horribly scripted movies, these so-called zombies did not _move slowly_. If they had, you might’ve had a better chance of surviving the impenetrable darkness. However, since some of them moved unnaturally fast, you would die a lonely night out within a hundred percentage certainty.

Come on legs, move!

You scouted the area nearby, all rubble with no openings. Clutching your axe a little tighter, you kept your senses peaked to catch up on any sort of threatening noises. Though you couldn't pick up on any shuffling of feet, nor any wheezing or sizzling that would give away the more dangerous predators in the horde.

Though it didn’t manage to calm you, if anything, it made you more aware and cautious than before. No sounds also meant a chance of it being wild animals that lurked instead. That was a little easier to handle, if you were able to avoid the first attack at the very least. Which meant if you didn’t, you were dead.

So much stuff was out to kill you in this moment, that, if your life had turned into anything close to the classics, you would have called it unrealistic and laughed.

There was no laughing now.

You squinted as you walked, the light seeping away a little more with each precious second. You needed to watch your footing, breaking an ankle here would certainly be lethal.

Maybe you should try to exit the city, since there was a better chance of getting away on the plains and there theoretically should be less groups of the zombies present. Though you didn’t like the idea of being out in the open, where enemies could flank and spot you even easier than in between the piles of rubble.

But precious daylight was wasting away, and you knew that there was no chance of you finding any safe-ish shelter here. You would have to accept the risks. You couldn’t keep moving in here with no light, but in the forests you could hear everything a little better, which gave you a better edge when traversing only by moonlight.

You had made your decision. Now you needed to act on it.

Taking a quick look all around, you didn’t immediately see any exits of the city. Though, you did know that you just needed to head east. Since you had entered that way, needing to scour the area for what precious little rations there might have been left.

So with the sun in your back, you decisively move through the ruins, carefully picking your way.

Darkness was almost upon you when you finally spotted the entrance to the city. Though there’s a horde of zombies relatively near the broken gates. Damn your luck.

Despite most of the city that lies smoldering from the radiation and the destruction caused by the mass of mind-less corpses, the wall was actually in fair shape and prevented you from sneaking outside without confronting the group.

You needed to go through this. There was no other choice. With your limbs weighed down from the pure exhaustion of moving almost nonstop for an unknown amount of time – you’d stopped counting days – and you thought that you saw at least three abominations standing idly within the flock.

Doubt ran down your spine. There would be little chance of you surviving this. But there was no other alternative with any large margin of your survival, this would have to be the best scenario your tired mind could come up with.

So, resolutely with the crippling doubt of immediate death just a short distance away, you pulled your dependable knife out of its holster. You’d long since learned that a gun wouldn’t work, bullets attracted more than they killed, and the tear-rate of the bullets would have to be exceptional for the risk to be of any worth. An ideal would be a bazooka or something other with equal powers of destruction, but you’d found little to none of such tools since this whole mess began.

Sliding the grip of the axe down your palm, the extra length would help the momentum, you readied yourself to storm the group.

In all honesty, you had taken care of a similar group before. But then it hadn’t been alone, without proper lighting, nor about ready to pass out with the way your body was screaming at you to _stop moving_ and _rest_. Ignoring the signs, you just lifted a hand to correct the mask covering your nose and mouth, making sure that it couldn’t be ripped off by accident.

Ready or not, here I come. Vaguely recalling the game from childhood, a morbid sort of humor rises in your mind. It was time for you to become the seeker, and not the prey. It brought a sort of dark satisfaction to you, as you steeled yourself.

Without permitting any more hesitation to weigh down your limbs, you break into a wordless charge, not wanting to draw the zombies attention before you reached them. Especially without you having at the very least taken down one of the damned abominations.

A few steps from the group, you lower your axe-arm, readying it to swing the moment you reach the creatures. Five steps, four, three, two.

One last setoff from the group and you swung your axe upwards with all your might, efficiently digging the sharp edge in below the jaw of one of the beasts, the moment permitting you to execute it without much effort. Its head went flying, landing somewhere outside of your vision. As every zombie in your vicinity noticed the human, with a colorful soul, amidst their middle.

While withdrawing your axe, you lash out with your knife, beheading another one and bringing you just a little closer to the exit. Jumping sideways to dodge a pool of acid, you barely manage to make a start forward towards the attacker.

It’s an abomination, acids having rotten away the front of its body. You used the split-second it needed to ‘reload’ to dig your knife deeply into its chest and dragging upwards, gaining a few splatters of the highly-toxic fluids exploding from its body as you retracted your knife and made a wild leap away from it. Releasing a yelp, you don’t have the time to remove the stains etching deeply into your skin and already damaging the cells underneath, another zombie is taking a swing at you, one which you barely manage to parry with the handle of the axe.

Stumbling back, you swing at them, though with your off balance mixed with the almost gone light, you only manage to bury the blade into the side of its head.

 _Useless_. Sod-stinking, nearly-immortal pieces of _crap_!

Pulling at the axe, you don’t manage to dislodge it before you catch another one lashing out at you from your exposed side. So, with a curse and a whole lot of regrets, you let go of your dependable weapon and sidestep outside of the group, keeping the knife raised to slice any incoming attackers.

You needed another weapon. _Now_.

Within the small time-space you could permit yourself, your eyes survey the ground before you for pretty much anything that could be used to defend yourself with. To the credit of your incredibly small luck, there’s a steel-rod available to your right.

Suppressing the need to scream at the many parts of your body complaining, you dodge further towards your temporary weapon, desperately trying to keep the zombies away with the use of your knife. On your way there, you manage to behead two and pacify another three by smashing their jaws or skulls with the handle.

But there were so many more, seemingly a never-ending supply of discolored and mutated beings, coming rushing towards you.

Finally, your free hand wrapped around the rod, metal biting into your skin and you could already feel that you wouldn’t last much longer like this. Though with the rusted piece of metal in one hand, paired with the knife, you might have a sliver of a chance of getting the hell out of there.

Now situated once again with dual-weapons, you try and make your way towards the gates, murdering en-masse to left and right. Though several zombies managed to grasp onto you, forcing you to fight close-quarters. When suddenly, you’re faced with the second abomination.

Acid sizzling to the ground, it seemingly hadn’t fully noticed you yet. missing its eyes and most other perceptive organs due to the acid, its less abled than the previous one. You move.

Lashing out with your rod, you catch the neck of one of the zombies next to it, sending its head rolling and the body dropping to the ground. Nevertheless, the moment you readied your knife to treat this abomination to the same destiny as its predecessor, you leave your side open. Stupidly.

Grasping onto your arm, one zombie prevents you from taking a step further, when you turned to have a look at it, you saw that it was one of the few which you’d only destroyed its jaw, to pacify it. while it couldn’t bite or tear at you like the others, it had seemingly picked up that it could actually stop you from moving by doing this.

While you’re distracted, another grabs onto your mask, grip tightening around the filter and the crack you can feel against your skin revealed that it succeed in breaking it.

Oh. Now you were in trouble.

Raising your free arm, you heaved the point of the knife deeply down into the neck of your offender, decapitating it. With a kick to the other’s stomach, you managed to also dislodge it. Breathing heavily, you manage to dash forward, cutting the stomach of the abomination open while running past. Making a mad dash towards the exit.

You couldn’t stay here any longer. There was too much radiation in the air, stemming from the biochemical pieces of moving flesh having gathered here. With one of your filters broken, you would have little time before the turning also got to you.

Sadly, the horde had moved into your path to freedom and somewhat clean air. The third abomination having detected your presence and readying itself to turn you into a pile of acidic mush.

You weren’t ready. You had just taken on two of these bastards, your torn filter and the dead parts of your skin a proof of your resilience. But this, a third, ready for you and fully capable of seeing you.

And if excuses could get you out of an unwanted situation, you wouldn’t be here.

With one last burst of power, you launch your rod in its direction like a spear.

It doesn’t hit. Instead burying into the arm of a nearby zombie.

Foolish. Stupid. Fool.

How many more bloody mistakes would you be able to make before it took your life? Guessing from the nearing group of beasts, that might have been the last.

You saw the abomination ready itself, ready to launch your final minutes of agony onto your body. Taking a last defensive stance, you ready yourself for the final confrontation.

So much for staying the survivor. All of those lost lives, no meaning. You couldn’t even manage to report their deaths, not to talk about the threat.

Seeing the muscles of its neck contract as it gathered its deadly kiss, you found yourself storming forward, futilely taking out one zombie after the next with your skills honed from surviving this long, desperately trying to make enough room to dodge, to move, to attack and kill.

You didn’t make it. 

But somebody else did.

One moment, you were delivering blows to the right and left with your knife, focus fixated on your incoming demise. The next, the being and half of the minions were set ablaze.

However, you didn’t manage to watch the spectacle, as the group surrounding you wasn’t anywhere near thinning out. So using your bleeding fist and knife, you try your damn’est to stay alive until your sudden rescue could make their way to your position.

With exhaustion blurring your sight, you try and keep your limbs free from the grasp of the many zombies surrounding you. Nevertheless, between one counter and the next, one of the plods managed to grasp the hood of your jacket, dragging you backwards.

One split-second, you’re struggling to breathe because of both the crushed filter and the chokehold. When the next came, you were free, your offender set ablaze and mimicking most of its other comrades. Then there’s only one thing you notice.

Fire. You were standing face-to-face with a monster made of pure fire. Though you didn’t get the time to gawk, as you spotted the zombie that had snatched your axe from you. Wordlessly lunging forward, you grasped onto the handle, kicking the bastard in the chest to gain some backwards momentum, you stumbled back onto the surface of somebody not-zombified. It’s warm. Not broken or out to kill you.

It was a monster. Thank all the gods.

To your immense karma from all the sudden luck you’d gained, you just barely spotted the thing readying itself to jump your newly-found comrade from his side. With pure instinct fueling your movements, you turned and fucking tried to _throw_ your just-returned-to-your-side axe towards the beast, like you hadn’t just failed the very same maneuver with your rod.

Which of fucking course suddenly succeeds. Your trusty axe neatly cleaving the head in two and then continuing its flight, burying itself into the shoulder of another zombie.

Goodbye again.

Though, with the opening given to him, the monster spread out a circle of fire. Raising the walls up to around two meters, he pushed the boundary made of searing-white fire forwards, eliminating any enemies surrounding the two of you. Very efficient. It certainly permitted you a second to breathe before you would have to make a dash for the gates.

Whereas you discovered that you couldn’t breathe at all.

Legs giving in, your whole body seemingly short-circuited on you. Too much for too long, your tired mind supposed when you felt your body collapse. Sight blackening, you just managed to hear a worried shout before everything became too much and your senses shut down.


	2. Encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You were suddenly not alone in all of this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this story will probably be updated every 2/3 days, whereas I can now also confirm that there will indeed the appearances of multiple AU's within the story, though the introductions will be gradual.

You vaguely manage to fight your way to consciousness, it was draining, both from the pain your body suffered and the need for more rest that automatically dragged your body and mind into an unconscious state. But you have long since learned to battle your own body’s needs, prioritizing your survival.

When you wake, it was seemingly only a few moments after you just passed out. Everything from zombies to the buildings nearby were still on fire, with a few stragglers from the group moving towards the two of you. Though you couldn’t see much from the form hunched over your body, shielding you as the monster shot balls of fire towards the remainders of the horde. Your head was cradled in the hand not occupied with making sure that there would be no chance of any others running into the same issue as you had.

You barely managed to pull forward enough strength to lift your arm up to his, grasping onto his sleeve. The movement made the monster flinch and turned his attention towards you, your voice coming out in small puffs, hoarse from underuse and the damage it suffered from the broken filter.

“Need to… g-get out… ca-ca-can’t breathe.” It had been a challenge to speak, and you didn’t think that you could manage any more than that. But he understood. Your whole body was shaking, muscles contracting from lack of oxygen that didn’t damage your cells.

Eyeing the last ones, he made a wall similar to the one from before, spreading it out to eliminate any last zombies. Finishing the job, his focus returns to your form, your hand still clinging onto his shirt as you stared at him with hazed eyes.

Something, you weren’t sure what, sparked in those orbs of light you saw as the eyes of the monster. Apparently making a decision, he gently picks you up, his one arm cradling your legs, as the other supported your back.

Then everything turned into a blur as he ran, your eyes involuntarily closing and your mind went adrift once more.

The next time you awoke, you felt that your lungs were burning, your mask gone from your face and something shone a gentle light outside of your line of vision. Letting out a garbled cough, you surged forwards, fearing that you were directly breathing the radiation into your lungs.

Though the moment you lifted yourself off the ground, a pair of hands pressed you back down. Without being fully able to see, you instinctively lash out at the offender. Though your fist was derailed by being gripped onto by whoever was above you, efficiently pacifying you.

You didn’t want to go down without a fight.

So if your hands were held down, your assailant using their weight to keep you still, you only had one weapon left in your arsenal, your legs.

Having revived some of your strength from earlier, you found that you would be able to use your experience in mixed martial arts with little effort. And so you intended to.

With a lurch of your body, you managed to swing your leg up and around the neck of the other person, locking them in a triangle-hold as you used the backwards momentum to upright yourself at the same time as you pulled them away from your upper body.

It apparently was something that they had not expected at all, so you met little resistance as you managed to finish the maneuver.

Only to be met with the sight of your savior. Interlocked between your legs.

Oh. Uh. Woops.

Swiftly, you moved to release him. However, before you managed to do much more than lessen the choke-hold, he clasped a hand over your mouth, startling you.

“Don’t talk just yet.”

Swirling light-magic pressed against your lips, the small tendrils being drawn down into your throat when you gasped. As you felt them move through your body, an odd sort of warmth spreading throughout your veins. A pressure lightened in the back of your mind and you found that it was a little easier to breathe. Ah, it was healing your damaged insides.

You thought that if he was going to heal you, you could at the very least release him from your thighs. So slowly, while his hand still transferred the light into your body, the two of you moved so that he could sit back up.

Sitting silently for a few more moments, you just stared at the monster that sat cross-legged in front of you. While your previous settlements had contained some monsters, you hadn’t personally interacted with them often since they were busy and many others demanded their attention and help with troubles.

So being faced with your savior, you were in a dilemma.

You had no clue as to what would happen next. Would he leave and go on his merry way, leaving you to continue on your own? Or would he have some plan that he wanted you to follow along with when you basically owed him your life? You had no clue as to his personality or if he would exploit a chance at gaining some extra manpower.

Finally, he removed his hand from your skin, though the moment you motioned to speak, only a weak croak made its way past your lips. The sound making him flinch just as much as you. The damned radiation must’ve damaged your throat more than his magic could heal. So for now, it was only your own biological processes that could possibly heal any such wound.

Looking around, you noticed that you were no longer near the city. Trees were hiding the moonlight from above and you could guess that about a couple of hours must’ve passed since you blacked out. You turned around further, finding that your backpack was placed against one of the nearby trees together with the monster’s bag.

Waving your hand to gain his attention, you pointed over at your pack and then further into the forest, asking about if you should move soon. He shook his head, dismissing the inquiry. Alright then. Right now you would trust his judgment more so than your own, since you were still addled from inhaling too much of the radiation.

Speaking of which.

Panic started welled up your spine, as you realized that you still weren’t wearing your mask. Looking about, you tried to locate it, even with one of its filter broken, it was still a lot better than the gruesome alternative of turning by inhaling too much of the particles.

As you turned to ask the monster, you saw that he was handing you the very same appliance that you were looking for. The filter had been replaced, though there were still the slight crack going up one side, underneath your left eye.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t bring an extra with me… I… I didn’t expect to run into any survivors on my way here.”

Shaking you head, you dismissed his apology, he’d done plenty just by saving your skin from the horde. Strapping it back over your nose and mouth, you managed to croak out a hoarse “Thank you.” Before moving over to check and see if you had lost any further gear in your wild escape.

Thinking back, you had little idea of what might’ve been going through your head then. Charging straight into a horde with just an axe and a knife. How utterly _naïve_ to think that you could possibly survive that.

As you sat bent over your bag, rummaging through the few tools you still kept. You heard something off to your right. A shuffle of leaves, as something that might resemble living, moved through the underbrush.

Instinct taking over once more, you quickly grasped onto the first weapon your hand managed to feel within the depth of the bag. Lunging to the side as something swiftly jumped towards you, the dodge managed to give you the upper hand, as the mutated, disgusting _thing_ missed its strike at the opportune moment. Only managing to weakly push you off-balance as you spun out of its reach.

Using your position on their side to hook your arm around their neck, you drained some of your regained power to force it keeling backwards onto the ground.

The moment it laid stunned beneath you, your knife was already halfway through its throat, the beheading a lot smoother and less messy than some of the ones you had displayed in the city. Though you did suppose that a single enemy compared to a group made a marginally larger difference when it came to how much time you had to execute the action.

Gasping with the spores of radiation released with its presence, you pushed yourself off from the ground, away from the being that had almost successfully accomplished its attempt at your life. Looking down on the knife you’d used, you saw that it was a stiletto of a blade, one that you hadn’t had a chance of using before since it was so thin that it wouldn’t have lasted any long-dragged confrontations. Sharpened to just a thin sliver of metal, it was immensely sharp.

You blinked, and the next moment the knife is on the ground. Your hands shaking so badly that you could only clutch at your arms to try and still them. This was too much, you were turning into some kind of killing machine, it was nauseating, disgusting, vile.

It was _you_.

Briskly turning around, you tried to pry your eyes from the form of the beast. Only to be met with a similar pair widened in astonishment.

You had forgotten that the monster was even there. _Shit._ The thought made you wonder for a split-second, if you had just suppressed anything other than your attacker, only focusing on the here and now that would permit you to survive.

However, before you registered it, he had risen from his position on the ground and moved to stand in front of you. There it was again, that unnaturally high speed. You’d vaguely sensed it when he escaped with you right before you were knocked out, but it seemed that he was really capable to moving at an exceptional rate.

You, of course, startled when the monster moved so quickly from one second to the next, reaction making you lash out again with your fist, almost backhanding him before he managed to gently catch your wrist with his large hand. As he moved to pull you further away from the being, a subtle voice carried through the heavy air.

“Easy. It’s over, it’s done.” While the words had all the intentions of being comforting, they only managed to remind you that, yes, it was over, you’d killed again without thinking and that you would probably do so again the very second you saw yourself threatened.

Without a purpose. You just lived, nothing else mattering than serving as a warning toward others about the danger that erased them. Erased all of them.

Oh god.

Don’t _think about it_. You can’t undo yourself now. There was a long way until safety, and you couldn’t let down your guard before then, you couldn’t permit your body to relax. There were dangers out there, and you needed to be ready for them all, if you wanted to or not.

Staring at the hand that wasn’t held captive by the monster, you willed the shaking to go away. You didn’t need any physical limitations right now; they would only hinder your survival.

After a minute or two, the shaking started to fade. Though the monster still held your hand, as if he wished to comfort you but didn’t know where the limits were when it came to your skittish self.

Honestly, you felt inclined to cling to him at that moment, but knew that you had little to no association with him besides from the fact that he had saved your skin a few minutes prior to this.

His deep voice snaps you out of your concentration, it’s rich and powerful, with a tinge of worry etched into it. “Are you better?” with you giving an affirmative nod, he released your hand, moving over to his supplies and digging around for a minute. Before you managed to ask what he was doing, the monster straightened and came back with a small package in his hands.

“Try and eat this… it will keep you going for a little longer and should help a somewhat more with you natural healing-ability regarding your vocals.”

Mutely accepting the package, you see that it’s something akin to a sandwich, it looked a little more flourished than any food that you’d had since this whole ordeal had begun, so you guessed that it must contain some sort of edible magic that would boost one’s stamina. Going by what the monster had said anyways.

Hesitantly, you began to eat. The taste was wonderful, but you couldn’t fully shake the feeling that he had something in mind when he gave you the food. Also, while you worked on finishing your ration, the monster went into the edge of the clearing, fishing out something that reminded you of a mix between a walkie-talkie and a phone. Huh, they apparently still had viable electricity wherever he came from. You couldn’t recall the last time you’d seen any sort of mobile devices.

With a bit of hope in your soul, you thought that he might be moving in the same direction as you. The coincidence would be almost unreal, but if it was the case you might have just found somebody to join you on the way.

Munching on the last bites of the sandwich, you noticed that the monster seemingly also finished whatever conversation he held. Closing down the device, he moved to put it back into his bag.

This would probably be the moment, where you would find out if he wished to travel further ahead with you as a companion, or not. while you had an internal conflict with yourself that, yes, he’s a monster and thus a reliable companion. He was also alone, a stranger that you had little to no knowledge about so-far.

Hell, you didn’t even know his name!

Why the heck hadn’t you asked, well gestured, for him to introduce himself before this? Ah right, the triangle-choke and then the whole situation with the zombie had occupied most of your conscious time after you came to.

Though there had to be a time-limit where you could politely ask another for their name before it got awkward. Urgh. You hadn’t been able to talk to anybody in a long time, so your curtsies were starting to slip a little, probably together with your sanity. But who were you to asses, if spending large amounts of time by your lonesome actually affected your psyche or not? Perhaps you should just instead try to correct your mistake instead of over-worrying about something as silly as this.

His voice seemingly snapped you out of your thoughts, still hunched over his belongings, he spoke as if he wasn’t entirely aware that he was actually speaking out loud. “…It couldn’t be.”

Standing, he moved over to your side, kneeling down to be at your eyelevel. He seemingly searched your expression for something. However, before you could ask what he was doing, the monster looked off to the side. Narrowing his eyes, he seemingly picked up on something you couldn’t.

In any case, you guessed that there could possibly only be two things out in the dark, and one of them were dead on the ground a few meters away. Either they hadn’t been alone, or a dust-cloud was forming.

In both cases, you would need to run.

Your body tensing, you readied yourself for whichever one the monster would call for. As he turned back to look at you, he apparently noticed the suppressed strength in your body, anticipating any and everything.

A timeless moment passed as you stared anxiously at him. What was it? You needed to know.

Finally, the firebeing spoke. “Are you headed for Haven?” to which you replied with a curt nod, still unsure as to if your vocal-chords were still functional enough for anything longer than a couple words.

At your reply, the monster sighed. “Then it would be wiser if we travelled together… After all, Haven is only a five-day walking distance away.” He was seemingly not very happy with this outcome. Perhaps you should test out your voice and see of you could give him an alternative.

Still a lot hoarser than previously, you managed to talk. “I-… If you’re not heading in that direction, I can just go on my own. I’ve been by myself for this long, so I’ll be fine.”

Dismissively, he shook his head. “I cannot let you venture out alone; you were very close to dying back there. We cannot lose any more humans, especially not if we can prevent it.” Another sigh “It’s… it has nothing to do with you if I seem dismissive. It is just a personal issue of mine.”

Alright, you would let the subject lie for now if that was what he wanted. So you only used the last of your speech to introduce yourself “____.”

“Ah.” It had seemingly neither hit him, that the two of you had yet to introduce yourselves. “My… My apologies. I’m Grillby.”

Just shooting him a hesitant smile, you stood and made your way back over to your bag, while pointedly trying not to look at the decapitated body nearby.

Rummaging through it to pull out a more durable pair of knives, you just managed to sling it over your shoulder before Grillby stood by your side, grasping onto your arm as he murmured an insistent “Run.”

Taking a short second to check if you mask was tightly set, you followed his order, sprinting after his from that had just disappeared between the trees.

Perhaps you had a better chance at surviving this than you thought.

Then you heard the gurgling of some not supposed to be living off to your right, making a mad jump ahead, you just barely managed to dodge the spray of acid. Giving neither your body nor the being the time to pause, you sprinted further forward, following the bright light of your companion.

There was no need for chances.

You would just have to make it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't have a whole lot to add here, but thus far I'm really happy that you guys like the fighting and other more active sequences!! So I'll be trying to include it as much as possible in this story! I hope you'll continue to support and follow the story! <3


	3. Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fleeing from a horde proves a lot more difficult than you'd thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys might want to check the tags up above, ya know, just in case you want to know anything new (=ↀωↀ=)✧

The escape from the horde lasted long after the sun had gone back up, you having a few close-encounters with the beasts before Grillby realized that you were unable to keep the same speed as him and now ran by your side. While it did assure your safety on one side, there were still plenty of zombies coming in from the three other available ones.

One came lunging in from your open side, trying to grasp onto you and slow you down. Dancing out of it’s reach, you didn’t take the time to try and decapitate it with the knives in your belt, if you did you would be swarmed just like in the city.

Seemed like moving on the plains was just as risky as the city, with less obstacles in the way, the zombies could now easier track down anything that seemed like it didn’t give off the same pores of radiation as them. Proving them quite persistent.

Some day you would love to study and see the origins of their very capable tracking, though it would be in a lab with several layers of glass between you and those beasts.

You stumble for a second, the muddy ground proving to try and prevent your escape. Though you were quickly pulled upright by your arm, Grillby ensuring your continued speed. His flames had dampened during the day, exhaustion apparently evident as you began to compare his physique to how a fireplace would act, and with his light dimmed ever since you left the cover of the forest and the horde gained an advantage in tracking you down. Well, your honest guess would be either the exhaustion was slowly snuffing him out, or something heavier than the horde behind you was on his mind.

You really hoped that the wasn’t the case, not focusing on the here and now was imminent to one’s own demise in these conditions.

A plod was suddenly charging on both of you head on, apparently either a lot more agile than its peers, or it had come from the other direction. Either way, you had to act quick since you didn’t have the time for an actual encounter.

Still running, you reached down to grasp the machete hanging off your hip – you’d equipped it after you lost your axe, you had a lot of different blades in stock at all times – you motioned for Grillby to halt his fire, he would need to stop and aim or touch the thing to kill, which would make him halt.

What you had in mind was more efficient.

Pushing Grillby out of the track that the beast followed charging straight at you, he shot you a condescending look before continuing on, trusting your judgement, he must be if he’d realized how much experience you would have to have gotten this far.

Arm lowered, you kept moving forward, the zombie still didn’t break its straight line towards you, something that was a practical thing when you were going to do this maneuver. As it was about an arm’s length from collision, you sidestepped as you brought up the blade, efficiently executing it without breaking your pace.

Again, you continued onwards, the burn in your legs and the sweat on your brow telling you that this would not be a pleasant finish. Since you had no clue as how to derail the horde enough for you to rest. Entering a forest or a city would prove more obstacles for both you and the zombies, though it would give you the chance to lose the tail.

As you were just about to ask Grillby about it, he started speaking, his mellow voice carrying effortlessly and showing no hint as to if he was feeling the fatigue just yet. “Keep running…” Something you’d noticed from the first, slightly accidental encounter, was that he didn’t prefer speaking. Most of the time the two of you would communicate with vague gestures and looks, it saved up more energy in your case, but perhaps he just liked to keep his general communication with you at a minimum. Since he seemed none the more pleased to have to drag the – possibly infectious – human with him.

Obeying his order, you kept running, not even sparing a glance back at your assailants as you had a feeling towards what the monster had in mind for the mushroom-like corpses. It would a lot easier to continue onwards when not thinking about the large horde at your heels, and fire was very potent when it came to eradicating the sods.

Hence why you didn’t give yourself even a heartbeat to see Grillby ignite the whole mass with undoubtedly the same wall that he’d used back in the city.

Personally, you had little to no pity towards the things, but something in the back of your mind found it grotesque that you were basically relieved towards having things that were actual real, _living people_ at one point. The rest of your conscious deemed those thoughts irrelevant, as you knew that once you’d turned, there was no chance of you ever recovering.

The infection ate at the nerves in the brain, basically leaving only the most primal reactions and the sudden need to recover something that could fill the empty void where their soul once was. Because with death, even if the body still moved, there was no real ‘ _life_ ’ left in the spore expelling thing. The radiation was the cause, a heavy mix of beta and gamma rays that had been messed up with bigtime, everything taking it in would eventually end up rotting, becoming something that bordered to living but never really fulfilled the needs.

Luckily, it seemed like there was no plants or the like that held souls, so there was no chance of the environment suddenly turning on you. But it seemed like most animals shared the same curse as the humans, turning rapid, never to do any else than hunt until the last ounce of strength left the carcass.

And even then, they sometimes still continued to be able to bite you if you thought they were dead, that was the pestilence that made this damned curse that much more worse. They would go through almost anything to reach anything still living, though fire often managed to burn them down if there was enough of it.

Continuing on, you didn’t manage to pass much further than a couple hundred meters before Grillby joined you once more. Shooting him a questionable look, you got a reaffirming nod. You were safe, for now.

“How come you didn’t do that earlier? Are there some sort of environmental needs to activate it?”

A shrug. Telling you nothing. Well, he’d gotten rid of the horde for now, so there shouldn’t be any complaints from your side. Keeping your mouth shut, you changed from your more imminent speed, to a careful jog, one that you could hold most of the day without trouble.

Though you might need to eat something soon, your body needed the fibers to burn off when fighting off the zombies with your much-practiced movements. While experience proved to help you a lot, your body couldn’t run on fumes.

So you either had to stop, or eat while on the move, which wasn’t that wise of a decision.

Would I be alright if you asked for a break? You weren’t yet certain of what sort of personality the monster had. Between the various skirmishes and other issues, you had only known him a few hours. He seemed like he would rather not have to ensure your safety, but he apparently held the values of his society a bit higher than his own needs.

He’d been worried when you had gotten hurt, troubled with being situated with you, but he had told you that it was a personal issue and nothing that had anything directly to do with you. Perhaps you should jump the chance and just halt for a few minutes while you ate some canned food.

Nevertheless, you didn’t have to. Because the moment you made up your mind, Grillby placed his hand on your shoulder as a sign to stop. Going from your steady jog to a walk, you noticed that you were near a forest-area once more. For a moment, it hit you how fast the two of you had moved today, even with Grillby not at his usual high pace, you knew that you’d probably covered about a day’s worth of ground in about five hours.

Even if practical, your legs didn’t approve of the gain in territory. The moment you weren’t focusing on running, the dull throb in your veins increased, making you limp slightly.

Hesitantly, Grillby placed his hand on your shoulder, which you took as a silent question about if you’d gotten hurt from earlier.

Grimacing, you reasoned your dilemma. “I’ll be fine. My muscles are just a little worn out from running all morning.”

“Does anything help?” his solemn voice carried from beside you. Hm, so he does worry, and not just out of obligation either, since he seems to be asking genuinely.

“No, I’ll need to sit tonight and work the tension out of my muscles, but I’ll be fine for now as long as we keep on moving. I’ll just eat something really quick without sitting down, otherwise my legs will probably give in on me.” While explaining, you surveyed your surroundings. The forest was less that and more of a small area covered in a few trees with some quite thick bush within.

The strong vegetation in there actually seemed rather unnatural, since after the incident, there’d been little vegetation still standing. Most trees only kept themselves vertical because of the roots buried into the ground. Most edible products were either canned and had yet to become poisoned or they were made by monsters who knew how to grow the crops with no radiation within the byproducts.

Monsters such as the one beside you were your only chance at surviving.

They needed to know. To hear what happened to a city that was once prosperous.

A wrong step sends a bolt of pain up your spine, almost giving in to the need for sitting down and letting your exhausted body _rest_ seems attractive. But you know that if you did that, you wouldn’t be able to move much further for the remainder of the day.

So you had to keep moving.

Walking a bit further, you were halted by Grillby grasping onto your shoulder. Your fatigue was starting to rut down your patience a little, so if he had just told you to stop, you might’ve felt less inclined to shake off his hand and continue on. But your survival-instincts told you that being rude to the guy who just fucking burned down an entire horde in the span of a few minutes, well, it was a bad idea. Even if your tired mind didn’t feel up you being pushed around when every cell in your body was screaming at you to sit down and pass out.

Though you couldn’t afford it, passing out was a waste of time and resources, you just needed to eat and drink and then you could be on your merry way.

In truth, eating was actually a risk. Since it demanded that you removed the mask and breathed in the acid-like air that would slowly force your mind to become _like them._ Sadly, most foods didn’t come in liquid form and so you needed to wolf it down before it became tainted.

Well that was your plan, finally finding a relatively secure spot, you dumped your bag unceremoniously on the ground, digging around in your bag, you managed to find one of your cans with an unknown substance mixed with meat.

Moving to remove your mask, Grillby suddenly stepped forward and stopped your hand from loosening the straps that tightened it to your face. You startled at the touch. What was he thinking?

Looking up at him, you see something bright flare from within his chest, a deep humming, a tuneless melody spilled from his lips as he removed your hand from the mask. His own moving up to undo the clasps, whereas you didn’t feel the usual burn from the toxic air filling your lungs, but something rather similar to you still wearing your mask.

Dropping your gaze, a tad, you noticed that the glow was still emitting from his core, his essence transferring from where his hands touched your skin and cleansing the air that you breathed before the radiation made its way into your lungs.

Magic.

You felt his hands move from your face, down to your neck. Suppressing a shiver, you guessed that the only way that he could utilize this skill was while touching your skin directly.

“Eat while it lasts… I can’t hold this casting for long… It… Drains me.”

Snapping out of your trance, you managed to rip open the lid of the can and while standing awkwardly with his hand resting against your neck, you ate.

And damn, you needed that.

An emptiness that you had no idea had actually been there was filled, if making you feel a bit heavy, the eased discomfort was way worth it. Gulping down the last of the mystery-sauce, you motioned for Grillby to remove his hand. Drinking you could filter through the mask, so that wasn’t an issue.

As you moved to pack the rest, you heard him deeply sigh before you saw the light he emitted dim a little. It must spend him a lot, keeping your lungs and skin damage-free like that.

Perhaps you should make sure to find safe encampment tonight, just to make sure that you wouldn’t have to make a wild dash from a horde like this morning. You were pretty certain that repeating such a pattern wouldn’t be healthy for either of you. Not to mention traumatizing.

Securing the mask over your mouth and nose, you double-checked your inventory. You were running a little low on food, but if it was only another four days until Haven, well. It wouldn’t be the first time that you had to run on an empty stomach, even if you hated the damage it did to your body.

Counting your weapons, you found that, besides from the machete, you had five other knives of various sizes. You should be able to last with this number. But to be sure, you strapped the thin blade to your upper arm, in case that you lost the machete at some point during the skirmishes.

Fuck you missed your axe. You had hung onto it since you had to make your mad journey for Haven, being the most efficient weapon out of your arsenal and you’d gotten used to the heavy weight in your hand. It had been grounding, securing your safety time and time again.

Snapping out of your thoughts, you hoisted your bag up onto your shoulder and turned to the fire elemental by your side, nodding. You would be able to continue on, for now.

Without a word, he moved to start at a brisk walk. The underbrush almost making no sound under his heavily clad boots, you felt that he might be a little more alert than previously. Was he sensing something nearby? Perhaps. But since he hadn’t broken into a full-out sprint like last night, he must be deeming that it wasn’t moving in your direction.

Following along, you took up the slight jog that you’d been working on for ages, hoping that movement would quell some of the jarring pain that ran up your thighs.

Sadly, the reminder of the day was spent with the two of you on the move, with you still straining to keep yourself from making any pained noises as the sun started to sink with a golden hue on the horizon. You’d suffered way worse than this, just a few days ago you’d felt battered and bruised after a particularly harsh tumble down a hill.

As you watched the last bits of the sun peek out from between the treetops in the distance, you noticed that not once since this hour-long trek had resumed there had been any attacks. Shooting a curious look at your companion, you wondered if the reason that you were walking in this particular direction would be either because he already knew the way, or Grillby was somehow able to track down the rotting corpses.

Magic did have many uses after all. You’d watched several miracle-like things happen under the gentle claws of one of your previous acquaintances, though you’d doubted that they would have thought of you as such since you had probably only exchanged the occasional greeting.

After. Well.

You hadn’t had the time to think about much more than your survival.

Raising your hand to check your mask’s placement, you noticed that Grillby’s speed had lessened a little as the two of you neared what could only have been an old observatory-tower. The bowl broken and cracked, there was only about a third of the remaining structure standing. Nevertheless, it was impressive, tilted and looming from above, you’d never even guessed that there would be anything like this out here in nowhere.

While standing there befuddled, Grillby had moved on to tinker with the locks on the large doors. Walking a bit closer – you hadn’t even noticed that you’d stopped moving, and your legs were now loudly making you conscious of your decreased speed – a small ‘click’ rang from Grillby’s huddled form and he slowly forced open one of the large metal-plates that served to block the opening.

As he gestured for you to join him inside, you marveled at the sight of the giant towering above you. If you weren’t desperately fearing for your life every single night, you might be inclined to sit and stare at the stars. There were little else you wished for in that moment, permitting yourself to daydream to a time where you were still safe, not _afraid_.

Hearing the great doors close again, Grillby bound the chain that had kept the opening shut on the outside, now on the inside to serve as a way to prevent any others from entering.

You would have room to breathe, just for a few hours.

Walking further into the structure, you noticed and started to climb a giant half-rusted staircase that wound its way wholly up to the plateau on the top. Though you stopped at little distance closer to the sky, perhaps going up there wouldn’t be a wise thing.

Turning, you saw Grillby joining your ascend to the next level. “Can we go all the way up?” receiving a nod in reply, you couldn’t help but let a slight smile pass your lips as you continued climbing the staircase. A few steps were rusty, and it took a while to reach the top. Your legs greatly protested against the repetitive movements up the steps, but the mauled structure that once kept the room you’d entered completely dark had been opened and gave you a beautiful view of the starry sky above.

While still catching the sight of the stars out of the corner of your vision, you moved over to dump your bag in one of the sheltered covers, hoping that there wouldn’t be rain tonight. Placing yourself up against the rough surface of the concrete-wall, you let your legs finally rest and stretch as you leaned back. Letting the tranquility wash over you as your eyes gazed far above.

You only somewhat noticed Grillby sitting down nearby, rummaging through his supplies, he pulled out two new sandwiches and moved over to hand you one of them. Eating in silence, you feel yourself start to ease up a little, the reassurance that there wasn’t any immediate threat made your mind cloud over. All adrenaline had worn off hours ago, and your will was slipping.

No you couldn’t fall asleep yet, you needed to work out the kinks in your legs. Otherwise tomorrow would be even worse.

Nevertheless, you feel your eyes involuntarily close as the last thing you register is the ocean of stars above you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I say, this is fun to write!!! through my chapters might slow down at some point soon, since exams are nearly approaching and I want to scream. (☞ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)☞  
> Anyways! Hope you guys enjoy the story so far! I promise that something more exciting will happen in the next upcoming chapters! Your comments and kudos are my lifeblood rn while I'm stressing over school, I love you all!!! (´°ω°`)


	4. Inevitable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Can you really survive this?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was so pumped writing this, you guys have no idea!!! Also, this chapter has a lot of extra length to it compared to the 3000 words I try to keep it within, so I hope it makes up for the extra day you guys had to wait! (=ↀωↀ=)✧
> 
> EDIT: Omg I almost forgot, [HERES SOME REALLY RAD FANART](https://66.media.tumblr.com/b6a4b83b88b28f03b040979fb9db6049/tumblr_o71ibuMuiM1st27slo1_540.jpg) Made by @silverstarsy

_Stark, barren landscape was always visible outside of the city. Many had mixed opinions about this, as, while it proved to give a fair warning before any attacks hit, there were little to scavenge from the ruins and dead plants that was a prominent feature in everything you could see in every which direction._

_You were honestly rather indifferent, used to the sight. Unlike some of the poor stragglers that continued to be found outside of the high walls when the scouts were on their rounds. Through the number of survivors still dwindled, as most were from other settlements and had either broken a law to be cast out, or a horde had managed to ram down their defenses and had forced them to flee._

_Sitting on the edge of the plateau, you barely felt like you existed. Your eyes were focused on the sight of the sun rising in the horizon as you did your duty as a scout. The silence, only occasionally broken by the sound of the wind breezing through the treetops and the slight chatter of animals stirring, sounded in the background as you felt completely at peace._

_Resuming your previous thoughts, you swept your gaze across the meek prairie that covered the ground up until a point out by the horizon, where the slight sign of a forest plantation stood proud and tall. Nothing really seemed to be nearing the placid and very well equipped Marina city, the long trail of a road snaking its way towards eternity showed no travelers venturing forth, no vehicles thundering across the roughened gravel that made up the spine of the trail._

_All looked well. Shifting your position slightly, you let out a sigh-_

You awoke with a gasp, body cramping and head searing at the forced memories that spun around in your head. The daybreak had yet to arrive and you felt your entire body screaming at you for falling asleep the way you did. Shooting a look over at where you expected Grillby to be, you found that he was asleep.

While you would have preferred not to having to deal with your abused muscles and instead just sleep again, you knew that you had to work out the kinks and strains while you had the time for it. So, sitting up a bit more – noticing that Grillby must have draped a blanket over you, because you’d never seen the article before – you placed your legs so you could start stretching and massaged the worst of the tension out of the muscles.

It hurt. It must’ve been much harder than you’d thought, as you worked your knuckles into the knots you could feel under the skin. Biting your lip as not to let out any sounds of distress, you pinched your eyes shut in the brimming darkness, everything still only slightly illuminated by moon and starlight. Though you were slightly thankful for the chance at doing this without wasting precious daylight, as the memories of days long passed had for once helped the circumstances by waking you.

They hadn’t even been one of the worse ones, those included blood, and the fear of pursuit rampaging through your body. Though in truth you did not deal very well with either of them. A choice between waking from the ideal place, to the bloodcurdling reality, or hearing the screams so many ring through your mind for hours afterwards.

Gods, perhaps once you’d arrived at Haven would you have a chance at not reliving those horrid times every time you closed your eyes.

And if whishes were real, you would have been out of this situation before what felt like ages ago.

Continuing to press against the tightened bundle of muscles in your calf, you notice that the light within the sphere is starting to grow more bright. Dawn must be upon you already, so much for the chance of catching a few extra hours after working this last tension out of your legs.

Finally testing the waters, you managed to make your legs listen and slowly stood up. Finally noticing that you’d broken the skin of your lip in your abuse of it with the metallic taste of blood filling your mouth, well, at the very least there was no chance of that getting infected since it was shielded by your mask.

Leaning up against the wall, you try and dismiss the vertigo and sudden blood-rush to your legs, as they regained their ability to support your weight without giving in on you. You needed to be able to move until you reached Haven, even if every step felt like needles. Though you would prefer that these next four days until you should reach your destination, that you didn’t have to feel like there was actual lead imbedded in your bone-marrow.

Again, wishes and all of that. You would have to work for it anyways.

So slowly, you wandered along the chamber, inspecting the structure and any other possible entryways, while you waited for your companion to wake. He hadn’t gotten any sleep last night, whereas you had at the very least passed out for a few hours which you managed to store up on a bit of strength.

Climbing up a few of the rusted steps that lead up the inside of the wall to a broken point, you perched there to watch the sunset while mentally preparing yourself for the days to come.

As you sat there, following the sun’s rays with your eyes in a way that was eerily close to what had occurred in your memory, a sliver of your instincts started to whisper at you that there was something out there – something unpleasant, slithering, even underneath the cleansing light of the sun. A mass of horrors.

There was another horde, one that seemed even larger than the one within the city.

Shit, you would have to run _now._

Stumbling down the rusted steps, you quickly grabbed your bag as you went over to rouse Grillby.

As you kneeled down to shake him, you noted with apprehension that you had no idea how he would react to being forcibly woken up. He might even lash out, because you sure as hell would if somebody tried to do the same to you.

Fuck, you would just need to pray that he at the very least didn’t burn you.

Carefully, you first tried to gently prod his arm, before having to continue the passiveness in your actions despite the awaiting threat outside. Finally, after a few tense moments, you felt him move, signaling that he was finally starting to wake.

But you needed him to be ready now, so biting back your initial fear of him attacking you. You ever so benevolently place your hand on his cheek.

“Grillby, we need to go. Wake up.” While you felt the panic in the back of your mind, you couldn’t let it seep into your voice. He would react accordingly if that was the case.

Suddenly, as you finished speaking, his eyes shot open. Though your words apparently got to him before any other instinct managed to kick in. As his mind caught up to what was happening, you didn’t move your hand, the touch seemingly grounding him as the gears turned in his head.

Almost like sensing the threat, you couldn’t help but feel the cold-sweat down your back as the adrenaline started to kick in. “I’m sorry for waking you Grillby, but there’s a horde nearby and I think it’s moving in this direction.” Suppressing a shiver, you added; “I-I don’t think I’ll survive encountering it, there’s just… Too many of them.”

Eyes blooming with understanding, Grillby gave you a quick nod before he also gathered his supplies. You’d noticed yesterday that he was efficient, everything wrapped up and stowed away within the minute and he gestured for you to lead the way.

Silently traversing down the rusted steps, you bitterly hoped that you would be able to pass the almost army-like group of things – that really shouldn’t exist and would probably sense you the moment you went outside – _oh god_ s.

Don’t think about it ____. You’re only making it worse. Fear will only weigh you down.

You at the very least really wished that you had your axe at the very least, it’s weight was something that helped calming you. But alas, you’d lost it into the shoulder of some plod that had probably escaped the tumults in the city.

You managed to suppress the paranoid thoughts a little, trying to focus on the task at hand. You needed to try and bypass them without the beasts catching your scent – or whichever method they used for tracking down non-infected humans – and continue almost nonstop until the two of you reached Haven.

Because if you didn’t manage to do that, well. Let’s just say; that there was without a doubt a large number of both abominations and perhaps even beings that you hadn’t ever seen before mixed within the group. Perhaps there would even be some of the cursed things that was the cause of you being on the run.

Stop _thinking_ about it! Just put one foot in front of the other, and your knives within reach and you’ll survive. You’re not alone on this journey anymore, so you might just be able to make it out of this.

Standing idly while Grillby unlocked the chain from yesterday, you checked over your gear again. This time, nothing was missing, all was where it was supposed to be. So tightening the straps over your shoulder, you readied yourself.

Then, the moment came where Grillby opened the door, and even if you’d told yourself that you would be fully psyched for it. Nothing could have prepared you for him turning around and just _picking you up like your weighed nothing_.

What.

Holy fuck he moved _fast_.

As you didn’t even get a chance at objecting, you just managed to wrap your arms around Grillby’s neck as he set off. Large thundering steps carried the both of you with a velocity that was unnatural, as he used his magic to reach a lightning speed that made the landscape around you into a colored blur.

Though, the added weight seemingly wore him down quickly, as perhaps only a minute or two had passed before he slowed. Completely stopping at the edge of the forest that you had spied in the distance from the tower, he set you down gently before almost collapsing. Leaning heavily against one of the trees, Grillby seemed like he was on the edge of his strength for now.

While you needed to move, you didn’t want to risk making your companion _fall_ from the exhaustion that rooted from having to expend extra magic to keep himself more solid while running with you in his arms. “Grillby?” you hesitantly, “Is there something I can do to help? Do you need something?”

Holding out his hand to hush you, you noticed the low flicker of his flames as he tried to gather himself. You didn’t know what to do to assist him – monsters functioned much different from humans, and even within their species were there huge variations in their needs – so you just decided to keep an eye out for any stragglers that might appear. Unlatching the machete on your thigh, your eyes dart around the nearby surroundings, catching onto the sight of the mass moving closer to the building that you had been in just a few short minutes ago.

Shit. That was a lot of zombies. Now that you were on a ground level, you could really perceive how large the gathering was, expanding from near the structure, the numbers just increased as you looked further to the side. It was terrifying. Your mind even brought forth the question of _how in all the hells_ did they even manage to gather? Since they were supposedly just mindless beasts, there should be no intelligence remaining. Perhaps instincts were all that made them move, that would maybe explain the flock-like gatherings in seemingly random places.

And so, you just went through a revelation that perhaps instincts were all that was needed, as a plod goddamn launched itself at you through the bushes, catching your side and sending you sprawling.

After that, you permitted yourself a single complex thought, as you reacted from long heavy hours practicing self-defense. As you were sent rolling down on the ground, with the zombie joining your movement, you pressed the heel of your boot against its stomach, and by using the momentum further, you managed to further continue its path to pass over your form, as to not end up with it digging its teeth into any of your flesh.

As it was sent flying, you also used your backwards movement to continue rolling, ending back up on your feet and turned around while pulling the stiletto from its clasp on your upper arm. Lunging, you managed to catch the beast in its chest with the machete, pacifying it while you tried to maneuver so as to decapitate it.

While you finally managed to dig the tip of the knife into its throat, cutting about halfway before you heard an alarmed shout coming from your left.

“____!”

As you turned, something collided harshly with your chest, once again sending you onto your back as the zombie frantically tried to bite through your skin. Luckily, you landed a small distance away from the other one that was still stuck in the ground with your machete through its chest. Not so luckily, that meant that you only had your smaller knives available in your arsenal for this confrontation.

Trying to pull out the one strapped across the side of your shin with your fingers, you didn’t have the time to actually reach it, before the zombie had its teeth frightfully close to your neck, that was slightly exposed between the collar of your shirt and your mask.

You had no choice but to hold it off with your hands. Something you despised that you had to do, since, even with your hands gloved, you would have to touch the thing. So slamming your palm up its chin, you held it at bay as your other hand desperately tried to acquire some sort of weapon.

Another worried shout rang through the trees, but you were too occupied to notice it, and the exhausted Grillby could only watch as your fingers finally found a branch laying a little off to your side. It was broken, with sharp points at each end, just perfect. Almost on reflex, you grabbed the dead wood between your roughened fingers and shoved it up under the chin that you were already holding up high, burying it deeply from the maw and up into the brain of the beast.

It was almost as good as decapitating it. Just cut off the brain in some manner and you should be good. Though you should probably move away from it in the case that you might’ve missed the vitals a bit.

Now for the other one. Rolling away before the corpse could collapse onto you like a deadweight, efficiently holding you down, you smoothly stood as you faced your previous enemy. Briskly walking over to the flailing beast, you shoot a quick look in Grillby’s direction, finding that he was still safe, you managed to focus on the task at hand. Finishing the job, you pried off your machete and knife before venturing over to check on Grillby.

Only to experience him doing the exact same with you. Meeting halfway in the clearing, you saw that his flames were close to returning to his original hue, though he still seemed a little tired, you thought that he should be able to handle travelling again. Though, the moment he reached you, his larger hands started to press against your neck, checking for any bites or injuries.

Well, look at the guy who said that he didn’t really care for humans.

Despite the somewhat satisfying discovery, you hurriedly dismissed his worries. “I’m fine, it didn’t manage to get close enough. We need to move before any others come.”

While Grillby’s gaze still lingered on your face for a moment, he just submissively nodded as he took your hand and started leading you in the opposite direction as the horde. Luckily, it seemed like it had yet so sense your presence and you doubted that the stragglers were much more than some bad luck, which you already knew that you had plenty of.

Moving onwards, you strapped the stiletto back against your upper arm, keeping the machete in your free hand as Grillby held the other while he lead you further along. Even though the fight with the two things probably hadn’t lasted more than a couple of minutes, he’d already regained his strength to some degree.

Monsters really were exceptionally adaptive. To regain almost all of his powers just by standing idly in the sun for a bit had helped him recover to such a degree.

Trying to move as silently as possible within the greenery, you noticed that it was exactly that, somewhat green-ish hues peeking out from within the darkened and dead branches of the towering trees. Was it because you were getting closer to Haven, or perhaps nature that was starting to fight back a little? In either case, the slight glimpses set a fire in your soul, you were going to survive this.

The two of you continued to move, even when night fell and only the mutt light of Grillby’s flames lighting up the nearby surroundings only to such a degree that you knew where to put your feet. He’d purposely made it so there wouldn’t be as large a chance of anything finding you, hence why he’d probably been exercising small spurts of sprinting with you in his arms, making his flame turn into a deeply exhausted red that didn’t cast a lot of light.

It might not have been the wisest thing to do in this situation, but you didn’t know if you had any right to speak up about it to him. Instead, you made sure that he held small breaks even once in a while by pulling on his arm and slowing your pace, just permitting the two of you to catch your breath and maybe taking a bit of food to keep yourselves going.

For that, you mostly just drank water or other energizing liquids through the mechanisms of your mask, instead of exhausting Grillby further by taking it off and having him shielding you. Also, even if he didn’t, there was too big of a chance of something jumping you in the dark, and being caught without your mask on was the same as writing your own death-sentence.

So paranoia drove you to only permitting yourself to stay hydrated, ignoring the pinch in your side from hunger as you continued onwards.

By mid-evening, as you stopped for another short break, you felt that something was wrong. Quickly jumping to your feet, you had your machete and knife at the ready as you hurriedly looked about. There must be something out there for you to feel like this, your instincts hadn’t been wrong just yet.

There!

Jumping to the side, you dodged the incoming swipe of another zombie, this one much faster than the ones from yesterday. Instead of tumbling to the ground like the others, it quickly regained its balance to come at a charge straight at you.

Though it didn’t manage to get close before Grillby intervened. A ball of searing white fire hit the thing in its head and incinerated it, as he didn’t even spare it a second glance. Motioning for the two of you to continue on, you saw something out of the corner of your eye.

Another six were coming for you.

 _Shit_. Did the tail of the group find you?

Not sparing the thought more time, you yelled; “Grillby! On your left! Move!” While you maybe could run from a couple of these fast bastards, six were impossible, they would flank and cut you off before you even managed to get a kilometer away from this point.

Taking a heavy stance, you readied yourself for the encounter. Really, you _really_ wished that you had your axe with you right then. Knife-fighting meant closer quarters, and even closer incidents with biting.

No time to find another weapon, they were upon you within the passing of less than a few seconds. One already within an arm’s reach as you dropped your center of gravity to twist and lift your knife up above your shoulder. Having dodged the first of your attackers, you dropped and drove the edge of your knife harshly into the neck of the next, using your momentum to cut so that its head only hung by a thread of skin.

It had to be enough, as the next one were already upon you. Sparing you no time to check up on what happened to Grillby after your shout.

As the almost-headless one dropped to the ground, the next soared over its form, managing to grasp onto your shoulders as you stood your ground against the pressure. Within a hairsbreadth, you just barely managed to slam your elbow up across its chin as your assailant snapped after your neck.  

Gasping for air, you moved to try and mimic the fate of its previous comrade, raising the knife-point up to its neck with a quick uneven swipe. Only to find that it had somehow registered your movement and caught the blade between its teeth, and with an inhuman strength, snapped the thin blade in half.

Holy fuck, what the _everliving shit_ was _that?_ You just lost a _blade_ because these shitstains could _motherfucking break_ _metal_ just by using their decomposing _teeth_.

Even if you had already known that the stiletto would eventually break, it wasn’t supposed to just be able to be smashed to pieces like it had been glass, just with the pressure of a jaw.

Gods, these things really were _beasts_.

Finally, your adrenaline-powered brain caught onto your situation. You needed to get to another blade. Now.

Still using your superior strength to hold your position against the weight of the plod, you just went and hammered your elbow back up into its maw, hoping that it was enough to break it and pacify the – gods if it manages to sink _those_ into your neck, then the turning would be the last of your problems – cursed thing. Further, as your machete-wielding arm was still held by the beast, you lashed out with your leg, trying to kick it back.

Which just managed to get your foot partially stuck through a gaping hole in its stomach that you had been unable to see before. _Piss_.

Jaw hanging limply from its face, the zombie was still holding on to you, the pores wafting off it making your mask wheeze with the density it had to clean as your mind started to panic. With its hold on you, the other that you had knocked back earlier would be able to jump you without trouble.

To which you heard an enraged yell sound across the forest, Grillby seemingly appearing with the unnatural speed behind the plod that was holding you, grasping its neck and pulling you back as it finally released its hands from your shoulders to try and swat at whoever was trying to pull you away from it.

With the backwards movement of its form, you quickly pulled your leg free, causing yourself to roll backwards across the ground to distance yourself from the zombie and the angered Grillby. The moment he saw that you were free, he set the being between his hands alight, efficiently killing it.

For just a fraction of a second, your eyes met over the burning inferno of the smoldering form, fear prominent in his eyes as he also understood that you probably wouldn’t be able to run away from this as you both heard the tremor of the horde nearing at a rapid speed.

Though the moment only lasted as long as a second before you had to spin around to shove the studier blade of the machete up into the brain of the zombie coming from behind. Probably the easiest kill yet, since you had encountered nothing but difficulty when battling today as you saw the next incoming attacker.

More and more swarmed in from the surrounding trees, surrounding you and your monster companion, cutting off any means of escaping. You only had the option to fight.

And fighting you did.

You would not go down without at the very least taking a nice portion of these bastards down with you.

Perhaps, dying while fighting would prove less suffering, than under the never-ending agony of slowly turning into one of these sods.

It took another couple of encounters before you finally had enough breathing-room to reach down and unclasp your more dependable hunting-knife, before the next was upon you.

Delivering executions to right and left, the ‘normal’ beasts proved to be manageable when dual-wielding, only sporting a few darkened splotches on your clothes from where a couple had tried to bite through, you’d been able to shove them off before they broke the skin underneath. You were holding your ground still, with sweat beading down your forehead and adrenaline making you ignore the pain and exhaustion.

Then, a little to your side, a sizzle sounded.

Oh no.

Making a wild leap to the side, you managed to dodge the acid raining down onto the patch of ground you’d been on just before. It was an abomination. _Fuck_.

Hearing the gurgle of another recharge, you straightened yourself and faced the thing – dripping acid running from its deformed face and uncertain movements only underlined the corroded features that was once be called human, the sight made you feel sick -  readying yourself for the encounter as you also kept an eye out for any intervening zombies.

Catching up on the sound of it almost firing, you forced yourself to make a dash for the thing, as the moment it shot its acidic weapon, you tried to twist away from the worst of the spray. With a mixed result of you actually managing not to get hit, but apparently it ended up coating the zombie that had been moving in on your from behind, melting the already rotting flesh down to nothing as it screamed without a tongue.

Huh, one more down you supposed.

One last step, and you were in front of it, melted sockets staring at nothing, you lashed out with your knife into its abdomen and pulled the knife upwards and across its throat.

The splattering explosion coming on much faster than you anticipated, you only just managed to shield your face from the burning drops with your arm, leaving small burns in your clothes. As you stepped back to survey the damage, you saw that the liquid had burned small patches of your sleeves and worked in under onto your skin, creating small dead patches of flesh.

You would have to make sure to remove those later. If you survived this.

Though your slight distraction made your focus slip slightly, you didn’t manage to sense the zombie approaching in from your side at the bling angle created by the filters of your mask. It managed to latch onto your shoulder with its teeth sinking in by your collarbone.

The agony latching onto your abused nerves, a pained scream fell from your lips as you tumbled to the ground in a pile of zombie and human. It held onto you like a vice, only one arm available to grasp onto your arm as its other was nothing but a burned stump – probably Grillby’s work – trying to penetrate the thick fabric of your shirt.

_No, no nonononono!_

You needed to get it off _now_. Laying sprawled on the ground like this would only make you an easy meal for these soul-hungry beasts.

In your pained mind, you heard Grillby’s panicked yell of your name a little off to the side, as the zombies had apparently noticed the less opposable human laying there, the easiest target that couldn’t burn them to smithereens just by touching them like the monster could. A huge group had turned their attention back towards you and the soul they could feel pulse within you.

Their target. Their missing piece.

Like _hell_ you would just let them jump you.

Twisting on the bloodied soil, you used the handle of the hunting-knife to try and smash the neck of the beast. The turn of your body, while positioning you to try and fend off the thing, also gave it the chance to sink its teeth deeper. Making you yelp and your mind start clouding with the pain that stunted your reactions.

Only permitting your body to spasm at the first bolt of pain, you managed to pull together your scattered wits to heavily smash the hilt down onto first the spine of the thing in an attempt to try and destroy its neck. Then, when it proved ineffective, you barely sensed much else than the pain as you brought it down to drive through the skull of the zombie. This finally made it release you, as a large puff of radiation was released with its brain splattered up the roughened wood of the hilt.

Drawing in a shuddered breath as you tried to blink away the tears that you hadn’t even registered gathering in your eyes at the pain, you realized just how close all of the remaining zombies had gotten and how little mobility was left in your damaged arm. It must have almost broken the bone, because every movement of your neck and arm caused intense pain to spike up your spine, making you want to scream.

Biting your lip, you kept a careful eye on the other assailants that were moving in on you as you tried to push the pain into the back of your mind. You couldn’t afford the distraction, not when it could cause your imminent demise.

As you kept your useless arm hanging passively to your side, you noticed that you had dropped the machete in your fall, blade probably somewhere on the ground between the many shifting beings. _Fuck_.

Gasping for breath, you managed to dodge an incoming plod, using your only functional arm to decapitate it. One down. Countless more to go, with only one arm at your disposal.

You wondered for a split-second, about the tales of Valkyries that you had heard so long ago were true, and if so, if this counted as a battlefield.

Because – as you took your last stand – you could really use an afterlife only consisting of partying and celebration after all of this.

You only vaguely registered the worried calling of your name, probably stemming from Grillby still fighting and creating large cones of fire on the other side of the clearing, as he took down one zombie after the other without managing to get any closer to you. Desperation ringing through his voice as you readied yourself.

One plod moved quickly close from your useless side, making you drop your gravitational center to spin on your heel and drive your knife into its neck, only making it halfway as another tried to grab you from behind.

Its hand hooked onto one of the filters of your mask, you couldn’t help but receive a flashback to what happened back in the city, with the mechanism breaking, leaving you to their utter mercy. _Hell no_. Like you were going to let that happen again.

Letting go of the handle on your knife, praying that the zombie it was latched into wouldn’t move since its head was nearly off, you used your newfound free mobility to grasp onto the hand covering your mask and hurled the zombie over your shoulder with a velocity that sent it barreling into a pair that had begun to move towards you.

As you straightened, you also picked back up with your hunting-knife, cutting the rest of the way through the smoldering meat of the plod’s neck as you stood and readied yourself for the next encounter.

Then. An angered, rough voice rang out from somewhere in the clearing.

“Move it you _bastards_!”

Suddenly, it was blue.

A bright feral blue fire was surrounding you as you heard someone storming in between the zombies. A form much like Grillby’s, casted out wave after wave of intensely burning fire as it moved to reach your side.

Though, despite the fire forming a make-shift barrier between you and the beasts, it seemingly didn’t scare off the majority of the things, as there was suddenly one lunging towards you through the ocean of flames.

You knew instinctively that you had to move, that coming into contact with a steadily burning plod wouldn’t go well. But with your body screaming in pain, the connection between your brain and your limbs was limited and you only just managed to raise your arm up to desperately slam your knife down towards the skull as you recoiled backwards.

Like your luck had suddenly turned, you actually managed to execute the maneuver. With the blade burying itself deeply into the skull, you almost stumbled as the knife was wrestled out of your hand with the collapse of the plod.

Nevertheless, you actually didn’t manage to hit the ground, as somebody had caught you from behind. Steadying your form as you stared upwards into the blue inferno standing above you, as a crass jagged smile became visible in the burning features of the monster.

“That was one hell of a move.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm just screaming over here because I've discovered that writing actionscenes are ridiculously fun and now I've managed to introduce Grillblue! 
> 
> But yeah, the next chapter might also be a few more days, even though I've already written a bit of it after I finished this one. Because, like, assigments has to be done and stuff... Anyways! I hope you guys liked the chapter and if you want to chat with me or anything you can always hit me up on my tumblr or just toss a comment my way, cuz hearing you guys liking my stuff means like everything to me when it comes to writing. 
> 
> LOVE YA ALL! HAVE A NICE WEEKEND! <3


	5. Cascades

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suddenly, you'r not just travelling with one, but two monsters. You don't know what to think of this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHAHAHA WHAT DO YOU MEAN I HAVE AN ASSIGNMENT I SHOULD FINISH TODAY? THATS BULLSHIT!!
> 
> But yeah, idk why but the chapters are just spewing out of me at an increased pace and I swear that I've never felt so wrapped into a story like with this one. I just feel like I want to write on it constantly so you guys can read it and build the world and whatnot. ITS JUST RLY FUN OK? ᕕ(ᐛ)ᕗᕕ(ᐛ)ᕗᕕ(ᐛ)ᕗ

”I’m impressed.”

The voice that carried from the fire elemental standing behind you sounded a bit less serious than Grillby’s, more defined and rough. Something also told you that you should not expect these two monsters to act similarly.

As you stared dumbfoundedly at your supposed savior – another one to add to the pile, this was really unexpected – the inferno surrounding the two of you brightened in intensity and heat, that none of the beasts could pass the barrier.

Though the almost intimate moment was broken as his hold on your shoulders shifted a little, his fingers accidentally pressing down on your damaged collarbone. Your eyes squeezing shut, you can feel the cold-sweat break out on your skin as the suppressed pain returned, a small yelp escaping from your lips.

“You okay there?” Moving to stand in front of you, he noticed the torn fabric and the useless arm hanging by your side. “…You’re hurt.” A statement, not a question.

Nodding slightly, you tried to force the pain into the back of your mind once more, only to find that it’s impossible with the way your wound had been jostled in the fight. Taking in a few deep breaths while the monster stared at you with worry, you managed to at the very least make the jarring pain shooting up your shoulder tolerable, though you doubted that you would be able to take on any confrontations or any running before it was healed.

“It’s ah-“ Cringing a little as you tried to move your neck to have a better look at the monster in front, you found that it suddenly hurt a whole lot more than you expected. “One of them got my collarbone pretty bad. I don’t think…” Leaving the rest of the sentence hanging, you just stared at the inferno in front of you, noticing a small crevice between the eyes form like he was thinking hard about something.

Though before either of you managed to say anything more, Grillby came bursting in through the line of fire. His shirt partially ripped and torn, he also sported an assortment of painful-looking patches on his skin, undoubtedly stemming from acid. He must’ve also fought one or more abominations.

“You’re… Still alive.” His eyes were seemingly also inspecting your form as he spoke, “I- My apologies. I didn’t stay by your side.”

Giving a small wave with your good arm, you turned away from the new monster to properly face the one you’d been traveling with these past three days. “Yup, I’m still in one piece.” But as you tried to move closer, you grimaced at the pain that followed the movement. “Well sorta… I doubt I’ll be able to run away from here once ehrm-“ you gestured vaguely to the barrier shielding the three of you. “-This? Falls?”

Though the rest of your words were caught in your throat, as Grillby – almost tenderly – rested his hand over your wound. The touch made you flinch for a second, before that same golden light that he had summoned the first night started shining from where his fire made contact with you. Small tendrils of light moving underneath the fabric and instantly easing the pain a little.

“Ya really think that’s wise out here Grillby?” Came the interjection from the other monster, standing somewhat idly behind you as he watched his friend (?) try and heal your wound.

Shooting the other monster a look, Grillby just raised a brow at him. “How else to you suggest that we make them able to handle the long journey back to Haven?”

“Ah.” like the monster hadn’t really thought over the means to get you away from here, he shut up for a moment. When he spoke again, the voice sounded a bit less eager and more laidback. “Well I can just carry them I guess. Nothing more complicated than that. Plus, you know you won’t be able to fix that, none of us can heal bones and muscle quite as well as the others back at the base. Trying will only make you more tired.”

You could almost sense the displeasure at the proposition coming off from Grillby. “I don’t-“

Though the other monster just cut him off. “Listen, it’s as simple as this.” And with one quick movement, the new monster had you on one of his arms, snatched away from Grillby’s touch without you even being fully able to perceive how the heck that just happened.

“I can still shoot and stuff with one arm, see? So, pull yourself together and let’s run. There’s way too many of them, even if we fused there still wouldn’t be a chance in all the hells that we could fight off _that_.” He made a circular motion with the arm not occupied with holding you up, gesturing to the sounds of diseased flesh moving and the undoubtedly large horde surrounding your little safe-zone.

“So just relax. I’ll even let you carry them, once you’ve gotten your strength back, of course.” You could hear a teasing tone at the end, as it sounded like the two monsters knew each other well.

While you were sitting passively in the monster’s grasp, your arm began to dully throb and you had to press your eyes shut to prevent any tears from escaping. The silence hung above the three of you for a few moments before the disgruntled agreement finally sounded from Grillby; “Alright.”

“Awesome, then let’s go. The barrier is taking a lot of magic to hold and I would rather use it to get us out of here faster.”

Another moment passed as the two monster stared at each other, one serious and one less so. Finally, Grillby let go of a sigh and gestured for the monster to remove his barrier. With a whoop and his arm pressing you a little closer to his chest, the other monster made a wide sweeping-motion which made the flames surrounding you diminish.

Then, the moment that the barrier dropped, all hell broke loose. The zombie came charging at your little group, but before you could catch onto it, you were moving at the same rapid speed as when Grillby carried you away from the tower.

Which meant that the extra stress on your body, combined with the pain resulted in your passing out in the arms of the monster. You barely registered it, as you just suddenly slumped against the chest of your secondary savior within a week.

_Trudging through the crowded bazaar, you noticed that many of the passerby’s seemed scruffier than usual, as many sported bandages or other minor scrapes on their hands or faces from the increased number or skirmishes. It was worrying._

_Waves of hordes has started to approach Marine city with increased frequency, with less travelers being found out in the limited landscape that your group of scouts surveyed in between attacks. Less survivors._

_The increased number also resulted in many getting hurt or turned by the sodden things. To the grievances of many._

_Out to your left, you suddenly heard a panicked cry from one of the labyrinth-like alleys that formed the back-bone of the city. Unsheathing your knife, you quickly made a sprint after the distressed sound._

_Though you found nothing in the small alcove between buildings, and just as you turned to go back, something hit you from behind, blood splattering against the dry ground in front of you as you tried to see-_

Your eyes snapped open, the painful memory almost making you startle. To your luck, you didn’t manage to move much more than a small flinch, before the pain from your collarbone made you freeze. Right. That was a thing.

“You’re finally awake.” Painfully slow, you looked up at the face of whoever was still carrying you. It was still the blue fire-elemental, a slight smile visible across his features. “Worried us both there for a while. Grillby almost forced me to put ya down when you passed out to see if you were alive. Heh, I don’t think I’ve seen him that panicked in a long time.”

You gave him a shaky smile in reply. “I guess I’m just that charming.”

“Well, aren’t you a cheeky one. Even with having fought all of those bastards, you still seem to have bit of a tongue there.” As you let your gaze fall, you noticed that you were still moving. Though not at the incredible speed from before, but more of a fast-paced jog. “We luckily left the tail in our dust, it’s probably been half an hour since you suddenly took your nap.”

“Ah.” You didn’t know what to say. You’d really managed to escape from that thing, even with a partially broken collarbone and a few splotches of dead skin, that had been a cheap price to pay.

Then something hit you. “Who are you? You look like Grillby, but more…” Well.

“More blue? Heh, don’t stress being all polite and stuff with me. With the way you’ve fought to get here, I already have a feeling that this won’t be the last time we talk.” As your eyes were still downcast in an attempt to relieve the pressure on your break, you just felt him raise the hand that wasn’t holding you, up to pat your hair.

“I’m Grillblue. Most call me Blue tho, since me and Grillby almost sound the same.” His hand didn’t move away from your form, actually only moving down to press you a little closer to his chest. “Keep yourself awake a lil’ more, I’m gonna speed up again.” and to the other side, you heard him yell. “Hey Grillby! Just one more sprint and we can walk the rest of the way!”

Again, the overwhelming vertigo and discomfort from moving at a speed that was unnatural made you a little nauseous, your breath quickening a little as the darkness tried to edge into your vision again. Biting your lip, you instead focused on the pain from that and the irregular throbs of agony that sounded from your wound. Not really helping with the nausea, it prevented you at the very least from passing out again.

Minutes passed by, and with it, the landscape as well. Seemingly, Grillblue – or _should_ you call him blue like he requested? – had a load of magic saved up compared to Grillby, since he just continued to move. Trying to take a glance around to find your other companion, you spotted a blur of orange color a little way off to your right, until your eyes settled onto the shape.

The form of Grillby moving at the same speed at you, seemingly made him just seem like he was running normally. As you tried to focus on his light more than everything else that was passing by, you noticed that his flames had dimmed again, probably from the exhausting fight and flight you’d been switching between, since you left the broken tower.

God, how long would Grillby have been able to last if Grillblue hadn’t intervened? You tried not to let the thought dwell, but you had to retract your gaze from his form, not feeling comfortable seeing him as weakened as he was.

Finally, Grillblue slowed to a walk, with his arms keeping you still against him as he ventured on. Making small conversations with you and Grillby, you continued moving on until the sun fell. Not a single beast coming near while you watched the dying landscape changing into a somewhat livider green, you were probably nearing the barrier surrounding Haven.

Theoretically, the erected shields that served to cleanse the air and keep zombies out wasn’t constructed perfectly, so a lot of ‘loose’ magic tended to seep into the ground around it, making the lands somewhat habitable as it cleansed out the worst of the radiation.

So, since the ground was starting to improve, must either mean that you were close, or the barrier around Haven was marginally larger than the one you’d seen around Marine city. Though there, the barrier had only been barely strong enough to prevent the zombies from entering the city, so many had to train to fight them off before they managed to damage the magic to such a degree that the wall would fall.

“We’re still another day’s walk away ____. Can you handle it?” As you’d stared dazedly at your hands, Grillby had walked up to you and – uh, you’d better start calling them by their nicknames as not to accidentally use the wrong name for the wrong elemental – Blue, snapping you out of your thoughts with his roughened voice.

You just nodded mutely, the nausea having not fully released your body, you felt the cold-sweat on your forehead, pressing uncomfortably against your skin. Raising your good arm to wipe it off, you barely heard one of the two speaking to you.

Your eyes unfocusing, you pinched the bridge of your nose while you tried to quell the displeasure. It wasn’t working very well. “W-what did you s-say?” your voice came out between harsh gasps of air that filtered through your mask.

“I said.” Blue had apparently been the one speaking. “Maybe we should travel through the night too? You’re not doing well and we can’t afford you dying on us out here.” To that, an angered crackle sounded from Grillby. “Yeah, yeah. Easy up a bit Grillby, but you can just as well as me see that they’re getting worse.” A short pause, and then, added a bit quieter; “The shock from the wound is making them hurt like shit, we’ve seen this before Grillby. Both humans and monster don’t just walk off something broken. We need a healer asap.”

“N-n-no.” You weakly protested. “I’ll be f-fine. I just…” you didn’t want to further exhaust Grillby, these past few days with you had worn him out. “Don’t worry. I-I just need some rest.”

Both monsters seemed to have to think for a moment, your insistence seemingly making them reconsider their options. Blue was the first to speak; “Alright. But tell us if you’re getting worse.”

You only managed to meekly nod at that. “Of course.”

The tension carried as they walked, your eyes following the last meager rays of sunlight disappear behind the horizon as the temperature began to drop. Luckily, you were pressed up against a literal source of warmth, so you at the very least didn’t have to deal with freezing on top of everything else.

After another small hour had passed since night fell, you saw that the three of you were nearing something that might have once been a barn or maybe just a storage-building of sorts. It had been reinforced, and it seemed well-used for a building out here in nowhere.

As Grillby went over to fiddle with the door, you heard Blue speak quietly. “You’re really a tough one ____. Even being carried like this must hurt a shitton, and here you are, not letting out a single squeak.”

“Heh” Your laugh was weak, but it was something. “I’ve been worse out here.”

“Really?”

“Mhmmm.” You hummed as you leaned your face against his chest, reveling in the soothing heat that emanated from him. “You learn to live with it.”

“…I see.” He left it at that, not trying to press any more speech out of you, which you were grateful for.

Finally, Grillby managed to push open the previously-locked door and gestured for Blue to carry you inside. As you entered, you were met with rather pleasant sight, electrical lights were functional and cast a gentle glow in the room as there was mattresses and hay strewn out here and there to serve as beds for any fortunate travelers.

Walking up to you, Grillby motioned for Blue to hand you over to him. “…You can check the premises while I make sure they’re alright.”

Blue surprisingly hesitated a little. “I don’t think you should try and fix them again Grillby.”

Still with his arms held out to take you from his comrade’s grasp, Grillby just spoke with that calm voice of his; “I won’t… I’ll just be making sure that they won’t hurt themselves during the night.”

“Yeah but you- ergh, alright! Alright.” Giving in, Blue passively handed you over to Grillby, who instantly held you close to his chest so your head rested in the crook of his neck. Too exhausted, you just let it happen, while you tried not to pass out. As Blue turned to walk outside again, you just caught onto his moody grumble of; “I won’t drag your sorry ass along if you actually do it.”

Closing the door, you felt Grillby slightly shift his grip on you, moving over to place you on a mattress, piled high with hay, it made it so that you could easily sit up. You face contorted with pain as you were tenderly sat down on the worn bed.

“I’m sorry.”

Huh?

Creaking open one eyelid, you looked at Grillby, still crouching near your form as his head was bowed down. Unable to see his expression, you slowly lifted your good arm to gingerly brush the tips of your fingers across his jaw. He flinched at your touch, which made you retract your arm in case you’d pushed some sort of boundary. Though, you didn’t manage to move it far, because his hand was suddenly cradling yours, ever so gently.

His gaze lifting form the wooden flooring, his eyes met with yours as you spoke, a slight smile on your lips. “You heard it, right? I’m tough, I-I’ll get better as soon as we find your friends.”

That seemingly didn’t help as intended, instead, it seemed to hurt him further. Still holding your hand, he moved to sit down on the side of the mattress, his flames low and dim, he looked like he needed to sleep for several days if he wanted to regain his original glow.

“…I should not have left your side. You could have been killed.” Oh, so he still blamed himself for that.

“Y-you couldn’t have known Grillby, there were a lot of them out there today. I’m just glad that we both made it out of there.” Your smile was still shaky, as the sudden stillness prevented you from distracting yourself from the pain and made the expression border onto a grimace. “Though, while I have to agree that I could have also gotten out of there in better shape, it could have ended a lot worse.”

After letting the last of your sentence fade, you just focused on the touch of Grillby’s hand as he sat there, probably contemplating what you had said. Your own thoughts started to circulate about, focusing on one particular thing you’d heard from an acquaintance, it might be able to fix your collarbone a bit better, just so you could last the remainder of the journey.

You’d have to wait until the others slept before trying it however, since you seriously doubted that the two monsters would approve of it.

So the two of you just sat in silence, awaiting Blue’s return as Grillby seemingly denied letting go of your hand. Not that you really minded, his touch was gentle and his flames warm against your skin as he unconsciously began slowly stroking the back of your hand with his thumb. You didn’t doubt that he could hear your labored breathing as you felt the continuous pain from your shoulder, but you both knew that trying to heal it was futile, so you would just have to wait and hang on.

Though eventually, Blue returned with a huff of smoke. “Only a handful loitering around, and no signs of any large groups. So we’re good, for now.” As he saw your arrangement, you could see that he somehow – flame physics; don’t question it – raised his eyebrows at the display. “Well, seems like you actually listened to me for once, I’m impressed.”

The almost comical comment made a small laugh escape from your lips, making both of the monsters look at you. The sudden quiet attention made you blush, retracting your hand from Grillby’s grasp to slap it over your mouth, you adverted your gaze from theirs.

 God, that was a little embarrassing. Maybe the pain had made you a little loopy, or the actual safety in this situation let the tension in your body be released a little. In either case, you felt a little silly, laughing like that just because you found your newest companion a little odd.

Though both of them seemingly didn’t mind, both letting out a slight huff of amusement. Blue moved over to sit on the mattress across from you, resting his chin on his palm as he stared at you. “Good to know that the zombies didn’t wear off your humor.”

“Well…” you still felt a little awkward. “It has been a while, well, since I’ve really traveled with anyone so…”

“Now that you mention that.” Your eyes met with Blue’s as he spoke. “Grillby told me that you’ve only been going together for a few days. Just how long have you been on the move? There’s several weeks’ worth of distance to cover, just to the nearest town and we haven’t heard a peep from anywhere these past three months.”

Dropping your gaze, a few unpleasant memories flickered to your mind as you tried to count backwards. “I… I don’t know.” Suddenly, you felt so exhausted. Like you hadn’t just laughed just because Blue looked at you oddly, the pain from your collar and the unpleasant scenes in front of your eyes making your body feel heavy. “…Maybe a month or two? more?” You cringed at the thought of you actually having lost count. Living on the run hadn’t been pleasant for you.

The two, apparently sensing the sudden drop in your mood, and the apprehension towards continuing the conversation, started getting setting up things for the night. As they stood, Grillby and Blue kept themselves from looking at you, as not to let you see the obvious sympathy in their eyes. You were grateful.

As they bustled around you, memories from times passed swiveled behind your eyelids.

Just one more day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahah, wonder what you had in mind when you thought about fixing your collarbone (☞ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)☞ Maybe it'll happen in the next chapter? Who knows? Jk I do but I'm not telling, only to say that I have zero medical knowledge and you should not mimic anything I write! ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿


	6. Precautions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the long hours of the night passes, you try and execute something you weren't certain would work. Good to know that you were experienced with holding back your screams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love all of you guys, you know that right? And this chapter is a little lacking in progress, but I figured that it would have to wait until I don't have to hurry to try and publish these, so tbh I'm feeling a little so-and-so with this chapter, but what the heck! it was still fun to write so that's a thing! (・∀・)

As the night truly fell, the two monsters had placed themselves in the make-shift beds across from yours, sleeping deeply from the day’s challenges, you found that your body denied sleep. The continued ache in your body from the day’s challenges and the continued pain from your wound, forcibly kept you awake as you waited for the two others to sleep deeply enough, that they wouldn’t notice you rummaging about.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity in your exhausted haze of a mind, you deemed it alright to try and move.

Ever so slowly, you used your good arm to press against the mattress as you sat up, shifting over so that your feet could touch the worn floorboards, you took a second to compose yourself as your shoulder once again started to throb with a dull beat with each movement.

Your plan – or more your only option that didn’t leave you completely incompetent and needful of relying on others to move – was to wrap a make-shift splinter around your shoulders, to apply pressure that would permit the bone to rest in a more natural position, rather than the half-splintered state that it probably was in right then.

Finally managing to stand up, if a bit wobbly, you silently crept over to your bag. Which you hadn’t even noticed that you’d had picked off when Blue first picked you up, you must’ve been in too much pain to notice.

Rummaging through the various pockets, you finally found what you’d sought. A bundle of cut cloth that had served as bandages previously, it would work well for the purpose you had in store for them. As you began straightening, you noticed the fabric of a much smaller piece stick out from the bag. Ah, you would probably need a gag for this.

Wouldn’t want the two others to hear you screaming and wake up, you’d at the very least had to have finished it before you could permit yourself to make any sounds. But it never hurt to be careful. So, stuffing the lump of – hopefully clean – cloth up under your mask just for the fraction of a second it took to bite down on it so you wouldn’t risk cracking your teeth as you bit them together, you hurriedly fixed the placement of the filters and then stood with the longer strips of cloth in hand.

Moving over to one of the far corners, you sat down on a pile of hay. It was now or never, you wouldn’t be able to do it if the others were awake. 

But god.

It was going to hurt.

Just the mere realization of the pain to come made your movements jittery, as you first only looped the strips loosely around both shoulders in a kind of eight-shape that went down under your arms and over your back. The medical monster that had taught you a small lecture in different splinters, had pressed on the need that it had to lay evenly over your shoulders, or else it would shift afterwards.

So, with a bit of difficulty, you managed to maneuver the fabric around your shoulder, so you would just need to tighten it. so far, you’d managed to suppress the slight gasps and winces from the spikes of pain several wrong movements had caused. Luckily, the gag seemed to be working since you hadn’t uttered a single sound.

But now, you needed to tighten it.

So that – not just might, you were utterly certain of this – was going to be hurting a whole lot more than previously.

As you sat there, you found that, for several moments, you couldn’t will your arm to move and pull the fabric taunt. Your subconscious seemingly did not agree with your idea and was struggling against yourself, since it did not want any more pain than this.

Well, it wasn’t like you wanted it either. But you couldn’t afford to be immobilized out in the open like you had – today? Yesterday? The time of day was uncertain when everything was dark – and you at the very least needed to be able to run if the situation demanded it.

Therefore, sinking your teeth into the clamped rag in your mouth, you knit your eyes shut as you pulled to fasten the bandages around your shoulders.

Bone ground against bone. Nerves screaming.

Oh god, holy all the shitballs _why were you doing this to yourself?!_

Grinding your teeth hard together, you gasped and panted, trying to stop yourself from screaming or whining at the pain. Tears were forcing their way out of your canals and were slowly trickling down your cheeks, though you were in too much agony to notice.

Well now you were certain about the collar having splintered under the pressure.

Your whole body twitched and contracted, though you didn’t dare trying to stop since the bone would just be set at a weird angle if it was permitted to shift again.

You couldn’t afford that.

So, agonizingly slowly, you made sure to tighten it properly over spasms of pain. A slight whimper or two making it past your lips, but luckily your mask seemed to muffle it, since neither monster stirred on their mattresses. Every time you accidentally let out a sound, you would have to wait another five minutes before trying again, to make sure that you hadn’t alarmed your companions.

They shouldn’t have to see you like this, less try and help you with something as unfamiliar to them as human anatomy. You’d been able to patch yourself up just fine previously, thank you very much.

While you hadn’t known either of them for long (you’d literally just met Blue yesterday) you already knew that they wouldn’t approve of what you were doing. Hell, Grillby had just felt guilty from not being able to protect you and prevent the wound. And to be entirely honest, the livider and expressive Blue would, while seeing your point in trying to place the bone right, probably not approve of you trying to fix it without a healer.

Well you couldn’t afford their worry if you were going to last tomorrow. Without being able to move, another skirmish like previously would result in the demise of you or your company.

Nevertheless, you let the pain affect you more than you liked to admit, tightening the last of the fabric with shaking fingers, you bind a loose knot with what little strength you have left.

That had taken a lot out of you. Your shoulder was now throbbing dully, displeased with your treatment, you doubted that you would be able to stand and move over to the nearest bed. Therefore, you just pushed up to lean against the wall as you finally removed the gag.

Then you finally noticed the tears. Fuck it all.

Fuck reaching Haven, fuck the zombies, _fuck it_.

You wanted not to hurt, just for a moment. For the pain to ebb away and leave you to your rest.

Though no larger being granted you the reprieve of it, leaving you half-sobbing and barely able to sleep as the hours rolled by until dawn. You felt yourself seep in and out of a daze that never fully bordered onto rest. Nevertheless, you must’ve dozed off during the early hours, since you were awakened by a hand on your good shoulder, gently shaking you awake.

“____? What have you done to yourself?” It was Grillby, staring at you with that same guilt in his eyes as last night. When your eyes finally met his, he undoubtedly noticed your exhausted eyes and the tearstreaks. As if mimicking what you’d done a few days’ prior, his hand went up to cradle your cheek, thumb caressing the lingering wetness of your cheeks tenderly as you closed your eyes again and leant into the touch. Cursing the limitations of your mask, you somehow felt somewhat soothed with just this slight contact.

“I couldn’t continue like that… I-I had to be able to move.” You still denied the insistent pressure on your wound from calling any further tears from you. You were tired of crying. Trying to call forth a small laugh, you huffed, “You would’ve insisted on healing if I tried this…”

“Of course...” He sounded almost shocked that you’d thought that far. “But why like this? You must hurt terribly.”

“Didn’t want you to see, hear or whatever… and this is the last day so.” You let the rest of the sentence hanging as you heard Blue also starting to wake, the slight crackle giving it away. Another huff, “Blue said so himself, you can’t heal this. So I tried to do the next best thing.”

“What did I say and what did you do?” Oh great, here comes the cavalry. Slightly drowsy, Blue was apparently not really awake yet as he sat up from his make-shift bed and apparently needed a minute to find his sight.

Removing his hand, Grillby move to face the other monster. “____ attempted to splinter the wound without anesthetics or even proper appliances.”

“You did what?!” Super, he’s mad too. Almost comically so, as he moved over to inspect the bandage. “Holy shit. Again, how did you even manage this without screaming your head off?!”

Waving your good arm dismissively, you denied him a reply. You were too exhausted to keep this discussion going when you were wasting daylight. “I can move. That’s the point.” You didn’t mean to snap at them, but you really felt a headache coming on from the lack of sleep added onto the exhaustion and stress.

And even though you knew better, you just wanted to get moving. So, despite everything, the pain, the pressure on your body and the uneven splinter across your chest and back, you tried to stand up.

Well, tried being the keyword, because the moment you were halfway, your legs decided that they’d been abused enough and decided to give in on you.

Luckily for you, both monsters were close enough to catch you.

“____!” They exclaimed in unison.

You didn’t need their worry, right then you just needed to be on the move and away from the smoldering memories in your mind. Grounding your teeth together, you spoke “Let’s just go.”

While both seemed like they wanted to protest, your stubborn expression apparently dismissed any further time lag. You really didn’t want to act like this, but the little rest you’d gotten had brought up some of the worst memories yet.

You wanted to leave them behind.

Just one more day.

You could hang on for that long.

Without further comments, the two fire-elementals started packing the few things lingering about. As you were ready and about to walk your way out of the barn, Blue resolutely picked you up into a similar position to yesterday, tucking your head up against his collar as he kept quiet.

The silence was fine, it just meant that you were able to try and doze a little in Blue’s arms.

_Tearing laughter and scarred remains, the stench ripped in your nostrils and made nausea rise in your throat. There had been little time, you’d managed to run. However, everywhere you looked, it was dead._

_Nothing remained, looking to the skies you let out a scream-_

Only to gasp awake with the intention stuck on your tongue. Breath labored and pulse high, you took a moment to assess your surroundings, and more importantly, register the hand that was gently running through your hair.

“Bad dream?” the quiet murmur sounded from the chest you were still pressed up against, they were seemingly still only interchanging between a quick walk and slight bursts of sprinting. Probably to ease the stress on your wounds. The sentiment made a fondness bloom in your stomach as you leaned against the gentle caress.

You half-shrugged. “Bad memories.”

“Ah, those are no fun.” You couldn’t see his face, so you didn’t even try to guess his emotions.

A huff of a laugh escaped you. “Nope.”

“Did I mention that you should be screaming like a banshee with the pain you are probably in?” Oh good, it sounded like he wasn’t as miffed about it all as Grillby, or maybe he just found forgiveness easier than his counterpart.

If your mouth hadn’t been covered by your mask, you’d been displaying a wide smirk. “Several times.”

 “Good to know,” a pause, “You do know that we’d have gotten you to Haven no matter what, right?”

 _Yes_. That’s what frightened you. You’d had way too many sacrifices already, so you’d rather prefer to be able to handle yourself, rather than having to make others risk their lives.

You didn’t reply, faking slumber once more, even if both of you knew that it was fake. Your relationship had only lasted for two days, almost only one. Nothing could be guaranteed, and neither did you wish for it to be so.  

Enough with the depressed thoughts, the sun was starting to pass the horizon.

A new day had begun.

To be entirely honest, you’d expected that it would have turned out as horribly as the previous. But noon passed without incident and you were starting to spot a towering form in the horizon. Though, with you in a half-daze while being carried by either elemental – Blue had approved Grillby ok for the duty, and used the occasion to scout a bit ahead too – you really first got a proper look at it when they both called for a break to eat and rest a little.

With the sun towering high above, you could almost glimpse the shape of the rooftops against the grey-blue of the sky. Clouds were starting to gather a little and the sickly greenish hue of them makes you think that you should probably hurry along soon.

Getting caught out in a shower of acidic rain was never a pleasant experience. Though the intensity of them seemed to vary greatly, and some were even close to drinkable with a minimized chance of turning with the radiation entering the bloodstream.

To your imminent luck, you’d been able to scavenge a refillable water bottle before you started your travels, it had been one of many factors that had managed to keep you alive and going.

Keeping your eyes on the skies as you sat against the dead trunk of a half-tilted tree, you decided that you would give standing up by yourself another try, as you felt that getting carried into the city would be kind of mortifying. Meeting all of the new people while pressed up against the chest of either monster, did not seem attractive. No sir.

Though, you might have to accept your death by embarrassment, as you found that you could barely keep yourself upright, even when leaning against the trunk. Welp, goodbye dignity.

As you accepted your apparent useless state – you might only be able to run if there was no other choice, because the wound still throbbed with each movement – you sat down and picked up the can of soup you’d been drinking.

Practical thing about traveling with beings made of fire; nice and warm soup that you could safely drink.

Sitting there, feeling just a teensy bit useless, Blue came over to sit beside you. “Feeling alright?”

You just hummed some sort of comprehensible ‘yes’ through the straw of your mask, slurping up the last bit of the food and tucking it away. “I’m just looking forward to being safe again, you know?”

“Heh, you’re not the only one. Grillby’s been out of the city for about a month by now, ‘t was kind of the reason why I was out here too. People were starting to worry. Me included.”

“How did you even find us?” That was actually something you’d been genuinely curious about.

“Tracking down a guy that burns down every plod he touches? It’s not as hard as you’d think. Also, I can feel his presence if I concentrate.”

“Feel?” Was it a monster-thing?

“Yeah. I kind of have a ‘feeling’ as to where people I know are. Most monsters have a teensy bit of this skill with their friends and partners, the stronger the relationship, the strong the feeling is. Make sense?”

Huh, interesting. You’d never heard of a skill like that, but you supposed that you’d also never really met monsters quite like Grillby or Blue, that seemed fully made of only one element. Well, you’d seen Grillby’s core shimmer that night he healed you, but you didn’t think that those were made from anything much more different than the flames that made up the rest of their bodies.

As you stared, you absentmindedly nodded. “So you and Grillby have a good relationship?” you mused out loud.

“Eh.” Blue just shrugged placidly as he apparently looked at you with the same level of curiosity as you were probably also displaying. “I guess. We’ve just known each other for a long time. Builds up trust ya know?”

You hummed noncommittally in reply, understanding the sentiment but being unable to relate. You’d been a loner for ages, even just traveling with these two these past couple of days has been surreal. Well, that added onto your undeniably close encounter with death the day before; made this whole situation with you sitting tranquilly with Blue under the withered oak, seem oddly surreal.

But it was real. You had acquired companions, and suffered from several skirmishes with them – your shoulder was a proof of that – and you were only a few hours away from the location that you’d been seeking for months.

So, with the sensation of two pairs of eyes resting on your form, you expelled a sigh as you leaned down to gingerly rest your head against Blue’s shoulder, permitting yourself a single moment to relax and regain some stability to yourself. You were about to face more people than you’d seen, in what felt like years. It would be draining.  

Nevertheless, the moment was short, and you soon opened your eyes and moved to sit up straight. To the surprise of having Grillby within a very close proximity.

Uh.

As you tensed, you watched Blue out of the corner of your eye, seeing no alarm in his, well, features. So you decided just to trust Grillby, even if the slight distance made you a little skittish.

It turned out that it was only him wanting to get another try at healing your collarbone, his fingers gently pressing against your bandage as he hummed that same breathless tune he had that first night and when he cleansed your air when eating. In daylight, the glow from his core was less prominent, only really visible because it shone through his clothes and moved up through his arm to the fingers that were resting on your shoulder.

 Instantly, you felt such an intense relief that is almost came as a shock to your tortured body. “Ngh-“ A gasp escaped your lips as you felt the warmth of his magic try and ease the irritated skin, pained flesh and angered nerves. Though you knew that the temporary relief wouldn’t last, you relished in it.

Until you broke away, since you’d seen yourself how much it took from him to use that. A you did, you noticed a flicker of something warmer in his eyes, but the pain that was brought back the moment you moved away from his touch forced your eyes to involuntarily close. The healing had eased the stab a little, but it still hurt like a motherfucker.

You just wanted to be somewhere safe, where you could heal up.

Sensing your intent, or perhaps your drop in mood, the two monster moved to stand up. Blue immediately picked you up the usual way, making you startle slightly before you registered his movement. Their speed still got to you sometimes, the unnatural movements and the suddenly flashes of agility and strength was practical, but there was just something unnerving about sitting up one moment and find yourself off the ground the next.

Moving onwards, the hours passed with slight encounters which only called for the powers of one of them, which gave you the chance to rest a little more before you finally arrived.

Towers standing tall, the scale of Haven stood way above Marina, with a wall that seemed as tangible as magic could become. It was intimidating and reassuring at the same time.

The three of you approaching the barrier, either monster must have made some sort of sign to the people you could barely spot standing on top of the structure. Because the gates in front were opening, serving as a loophole through the powerful magic that protected the city.

Well, you finally made it.

Haven.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, I'll ease up on the torture of the reader... soon. （=´∇｀=）


	7. Haven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It gave you a different impression than you'd come to expect from the rumors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alas, you finally made it to Haven. The largest city still standing its ground, amazing. Wowsies. Enjoy, Ahahaha (￣▽+￣*)

As you passed the thick layer of protective magic, you felt the hairs rise on your arms and neck. An almost electrifying current travelling over your skin and making you flinch as Blue only let out a relaxed laugh.

“Don’t worry, it’s also uncomfortable for us monsters. Just hang on and we’ll be through soon.” You couldn’t do much more than obey, as the pressure on your nerves felt like it stunted you. In all honesty, you were glad that Blue was carrying you, because if you’d gone through by yourself you believed that you would have passed out, or at the very least be unable to move more than halfway through.

Though the sensation soon passed, and you were met with the view inside the city.

Oh gosh.

The towers that you’d seen inside were looming above, but from your perspective you could finally see the real structure of Haven. Many small houses were crowding the streets with countless alleyways and one main street that lead directly from the front of the gate and – from what you could see in the distance, because the size of this place was overwhelming – all the way down to what seemed like a park, where a giant of a tree stood proudly.

Nevertheless, it wasn’t just the buildings that impressed you the most. It was the countless people – both human and monster – that were crowding around to see who’d returned to the city. Their presence, powered by curiosity and wariness, felt like a tidal wave of energy.

It was all a little too overwhelming.

When having lived alone for as long as you had, with little to think about than living another day. This, this foreign community-like feeling and attention directed towards you, honestly made you shrink a little. You’d never seen this many gathered in one place, even in Marina the population had all been constantly occupied with their individual work to keep the rusted gears of the city running and everyone sated. Here, children were running gleefully through the crowd and many just seemed to be just spending time together for the company of it and not to work. It honestly felt a little alien.

To your immense luck, somebody of an authoritative figure seemed to be working their way through the crowd. A cheerful and boisterous voice was asking the people to make way, though you couldn’t see them over the many tall monsters that were eyeing your trio over their peers.

Shifting awkwardly, you accidentally twisted your neck and sent a spear of pain down your side. Suppressing a whine, you ducked your head and wished for them all to disperse.

“Hey, you alright ____?” you barely registered the question, the sound from the lot and the throbbing in your shoulder making you tune out everything. Because you couldn’t do much more, you just slowly shook your head as you bit the inside of your cheek to distract yourself from the pain.

Finally arriving at the front of the gathering, you spotted two tall skeletons standing in front of the crowd, one gesturing for them to disperse with a scowl on his face and the other having several children clinging to him in various placements.

As Blue and Grillby started walking towards them, you noticed that Grillby was marginally closer to you than previously. While the reason was unknown, the sentiment helped ease you some.

Finally managing to convince the curious onlookers to go, the one wearing dark, almost ominous armor turned to eye your companions. You looked down as your eyes met with his for a fraction of a second, you felt immensely uncomfortable with being in the presence of the skeleton.

While you kept your gaze downcast, you heard him scoff and address your company. “Bring them to the healers. Though Asgore expects all of you as soon as they’ve been examined. Is that clear, _scout Grillby_?”

Uh oh. You could almost feel the tension in the air, Blue slightly tensing his grip on you which sent a bolt of pain up your shoulder. However, since you didn’t feel like speaking in this company, you just sunk your teeth deeper into the inside of your cheek.

 After a few moments passed in that atmosphere, you heard the stiff reply from the elemental. “Yes.”

“Very well.” You’d never imagined that someone’s stare could feel freezing, but you certainly made the comparison as you felt the monster’s eyes graze over your form once again. “I’m looking forward to hearing the report the three of your will lay to him.”

Then, as the skeleton moved to go back the way he came, he yelled at his own companion. That, from what you caught from the corner of your downcast sight, was still fighting to peel the gleeful children off his armor. “Papyrus, keep an eye on them! I will not have to fucking deal with them loitering about if I can avoid it.”

“Yes sir!” Came the enthusiastic reply from the apparent subordinate. Prying off the last child and telling them in a very loud voice that they should probably go back to their family because he had guard-duties to do.

You’d never really been involved in the guard back at Marina, they’d been good enough at holding off the constant stream of plods, but they had also been a cynical and angry bunch that you’d little interest in getting involved with. This one though, besides from his rather intimidating counterpart, seemed reasonable and nice if one were to judge by how the children were around him.

Nevertheless, the crowd hadn’t really spread much further than pretending to be on their merry way, still staring curiously at the spectacle. Such liveliness was foreign to you. You just wanted to move on and get your shoulder fixed, as to make it possible for you to move on your own and dodge any unwanted attention.

Standing, Papyrus – you thought you’d been able to catch onto the name correctly – eagerly gesture for Blue and Grillby to follow him, though they probably already knew where to go.

“It has been a while Grillby! I am very happy that you managed to last out there, with the never-ending battle going on. How exciting!” The skeleton moved to walk by Grillby’s side, speaking with a volume that was not pleasant to your poor ears.

While the elemental was less prone to speaking, the skeleton seemed to pay it little mind as the prattled on about people you’d never heard of.

However, despite the almost overeager act you saw from him. You thought that you liked this boisterous character. Or, at the very least, you found that while you might not want to have him for a conversationalist, his measured movements and balanced walk hinted that he wasn’t in the guard for naught.

“How’re you holding up?” The murmur was barely audible for you, as you were slightly zoning out and you’d yet to hear such a tone with Blue.

“I’ll live.” You replied within the same level of tone, leaning your head against Blue’s chest and closing your eyes. “So Grillby’s a scout?”

“Well, sorta.”

“Sort of?”

“Yeah,” you felt his hand move to resume gently ruffling your hair, “We all switch duties here in Haven. People do the jobs they’re able to do and they get their basic necessities in return once they’ve done their quota. Doing more than that, makes you able to earn up extra stuff.” A pause. “Though scouting and guard-duty is usually something that excludes you from those other chores.”

“Does Grillby not do that?”

“Erhh…” You could almost feel the line you must’ve passed there, too soon to ask about the reason for him to be out there alone then.

“You don’t have to tell me.” At your words, Blue’s hand stopped it’s caressing of your hair. Instead, it moved down to slowly tilt your head upwards, so that your eyes met with his. “I’m still a stranger to you two. It’s alright.”

You condone your ability to keep yourself from grimacing at the pain, as you stare into those white orbs that served as Blue’s eyes. The angle of your neck putting more pressure than necessary on your wound, but you thought that you could at the very least try to communicate your gratitude.

“____. Do you really think that we’re still strangers?”

What an odd question, it was honestly unexpected. Didn’t time determine a relationship in most people’s eyes? And here were you, only having travelled with this guy for little over a day. “Yes? Well, we’ve only just…” Suddenly you’re uncertain. What did he mean to you, heck, what did both of them mean to you despite the short interval you’d known each other?

While stressing over the odd dilemma, you were unexpectedly bopped on the nose. “I think that kicking zombie-heads off together counts as a little more than just being strangers, am I wrong?”  

When you then focused back onto Blue’s expression, you only saw a good-natured smile in his features. Whereas you could only make yourself mutter a hesitant “I don’t…no.” as you felt yourself get enraptured in the positive atmosphere surrounding the monster that was carrying you.

Though you were quickly snapped out of it, as you had arrived at a hospital-like building. The building was large, with several humans and monsters hanging about – probably the family or friends of whoever they might know in there -

With Papyrus loudly announcing your presence when opening the door. The sound caused you to wince and look away from Blue.

Nevertheless, Papyrus only manages to expel one loud exclamation, before there’s a chorus of shushes shot his way, making him startle and slap a hand over his – erh, he doesn’t have a mouth so – teeth. Seeming a little ashamed, he calls out with a much lessened volume, for someone’s name - ‘Toriel’.

Within a few moments, somebody much larger than any of the other monsters in your company appears in the doorway that leads much farther into the large building. “Yes, Papyrus? Have you had another brawl with Undyne, or is it the other one?”

“Alas, Miss. I am not the one seeking medical attention in this imminent case! Grillby and Grillblue have returned with a damaged human!” 

That statement causes the larger monster to finally enter the room fully, “What seems to be the problem?” They’re large, a feminine structure that moves smoothly as their large hind paws pad across the flooring to get a closer look at your form in Blue’s arms.

Blue spoke up at this; “A broken collarbone, or at least cracked judging by the looks of it.”

She nodded – you recalled then, that Papyrus had called her ‘miss’ and decided to try and refer to her as such – gesturing with her large hands that he’d hand you over to her care. However, Blue seems to hesitate at this, as did Grillby who’d been observing on the sidelines of the interaction.

Though her analytical expression softened a little, she still moved to pick you up. “Do not worry young ones. They’ll make it through just fine.” Her fur was coarse and long, an alien touch to your skin that you leant against as her form dwarfed you. If the elementals had been a good bit taller than you, it was nothing compared to the size of the monster that was now holding you.

“Now child.” You could feel the rumble in her chest as she spoke, the robe of fabric shifting as she straightened. “I believe that you’re expected at a meeting with Asgore, am I correct?”

“How did you know?” The reply is muted by you leaning into her soft chest, feeling lulled by the flowing movements. You suddenly don’t feel as pained as before.

“Trust me, when I say that I know every soul in this city. Human or monster, it matters not, for they all have small qualms that needs a healing touch to soothe their problems. Anyone new will all have to meet with the leaders at one point shortly after entering the city, do not worry, they are harmless.” You caught onto an edge of laughter in her voice. “Perhaps one day I can tell you some of the tales. Though it would be more preferred if we were perhaps sitting over a nice meal with some of the others, instead of in the hospital.”

You just kept quiet after that, unsure as to why all everyone you encountered seemed to either just tolerate your appearance or seemed to treat you liked you’d known each other for ages. Either confused you and put you on the spot.

As you were carried through a few corridors, your little group arrived in an empty room. With Toriel gently placing you on the edge of the bed, you flinched as the pressure on your shoulder shifted and barely managed to suppress a whine by biting your lip.

“That does look severely damaged.” She kneeled by your side, to inspect the bandages around your shoulders. “I will have to remove these, or else they will get in the way. Are you alright with this?”

Funny, it seemed almost like she needed your permission to heal you. None of the ones back in Marina had exercised a similar act, but just done it before moving on. In any case, you confirmed her inquiry with a nod. As Toriel started to unwrap the lengths of cloth from your upper body, you noticed that your little entourage had stuck, since Grillby was leaning up against the frame of the door and Blue was doing the same on the wall to your right. Both were eyeing the procedure tensely.

As the last strip of cloth were unwrapped, Toriel slowly peeled off your shirt to reveal the bruising. Even with Grillby’s attempts at easing the swelling and pain, the skin was still swollen and irritated underneath. A strange lump of abused flesh was visible, above what you guessed was the break. An agitated crackle could be heard from both elementals as you also hiss at the sight.

Wow. How you even managed to travel this far without passing out, was beyond you. Blue had been on point with his observations of your reactions.

“There child, it is manageable so do not worry. I can, however, also see the touch of another monster,” turning around, she eyes Grillby with a somewhat sharpness. “I presume you are the one who attempted to do this, Grillby?”

“Yes.”

“Very well. I’ll need your assistance then.” With one large paw, she waved him over, to which he reluctantly obeyed. Walking over from the doorway, he made his way over to sit on your other side, his leg propped up so he could turn and face you.

Suddenly, you felt just teensy bit nervous. “What’s going to happen now?”

To your question, Toriel just shot you a wide smile. “Do not worry, I will just have Grillby remove the magic he had administered to your wound and add my own. We will have to do it this way to avoid any issues with your body having two sorts of magic flowing in your veins during the healing.” She then proceeded to give Grillby another odd look. “It shouldn’t hurt, but we can never be too careful with this procedure so we will take it slow.”

“Alright.” You really couldn’t do much more than accepting, even if the concept still seemed a little dangerous to you. But you trusted Grillby, so it should be fine.

That same breathless tune carried through the tense air of the room, Grillby activating his magic with his core casting a gentle light over the various surfaces in the dimmed room.

Ow, ow. _Ow_! That did not hurt just a _little_!

You strained against the sensation, gasping, as Grillby called back the magic that had apparently helped you keep going this whole time. Digging for some kind of purchase in the sheets of the bed, your hands cramped and you had to pull all of your will into not flinching away from the touch of either monster, one retracting his magic, while the other tried to administer hers to take care of your wound.

Somewhere during the process, Grillby’s free hand found one of yours, trying to reassure you. The pain started to ebb a little, permitting you to draw in some shaky breaths and clasp your hand with his to serve as an anchor.

Finally, it stopped. Both the pain from the magic flowing through your cells, and the clear agony from your break. Leaving you feeling like you’d just been dunked in ice-cold water. Everything felt a little too much on edge, since the pain you’d been carrying constantly up till now had suddenly dissipated, leaving all of your senses able to focus on other things. Which, honestly, turned out to be almost just as overwhelming as the wound in itself had been.

“My apologies child. It seems that I underestimated the amount of magic already present, and added too little of my own in the beginning. Are you alright.”

You let out a shaky sigh, relishing in the freedom. “I… I’ll be fine. Just peachy, once I get some rest.” True to your word, you felt exhausted now that the pain was gone. With a slight slur to your voice, you added; “But I’ll have to talk to… uhm, what’s-his-name.” Algory, Asgoro… something like that. “Before I can sleep.”

There, Grillby decided to intercept, his hand still cradling yours. “You cannot handle the lengthy conversation, not after all of this.”

“Then he will have to wait.” Toriel’s voice was firm at this, a slight seethe of anger to her tone. “He shouldn’t be expecting them the first couple of days after arriving in any case, it will not help them settle in.”

“But Miss Toriel.” Came the meek protest from the door, where Papyrus had been waiting anxiously. “As soon as the gates were opened, he ordered for every single soul that entered to meet with him as soon as possible.”

“Then I will go with Grillby and Blue, to explain matters as it is.” Rising from the kneeling position by your side, she gestured for you to lay down. “They need rest; this is not just a physical strain they have been going through. But the mind also needs rest, Papyrus. You know that from your brother.”

That seemed to have hit a nerve, because the somewhat nervous skeleton straightened and bowed, letting Toriel have her will. You wondered briefly, if Toriel was more than just a healer.

But your mind was getting blurry, as your body tried to maneuver under the sheets of the bed, relishing in the comfort it provided you. You only noticed right before you completely laid down, that you were still holding hands with Grillby, and letting go, you feel Grillby give you another reassuring squeeze before separating.

You hadn’t even noticed when you’d peeled off your boots, or the heavy jacket. But the moment you laid down, you were already half asleep. Seemed like everything had worn you out a whole lot more than you’d thought.

Slowly drifting off, you just barely registered the affectionate ruffle of your hair from Blue and Toriel ushering the others out of the room.

You’d really made it.

That was the last thought going through your mind, before you sank down into dreamland.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I will just warn you guys beforehand, but it might be a couple of extra days before the next chapter happens, since I have an exam on monday and I feel like burying myself underground to avoid it. (￣▽￣)ノ
> 
> Anyways! I'll also be letting you guys know that there might be the chance of us getting *ahem* introduced to the last piece of the fire-trio next time! Just a nice lil' spoiler for ya'll, love you and hearing what you think about the story so far! （=´∇｀=）


	8. Remiscense

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a little hard, getting used to not being in danger all the time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm soooo sorry that it took over a week to get this one out! I had some killer exams and still have, so the schedule will continue to be wobbly these next few weeks :V
> 
> Anyways! Hope you enjoy!!!

Even with the tumult and noise passing by outside of your room, you slept like a stone. You noticed neither when Toriel returned to check on you, nor when the two elementals re-entered with each their own chair to watch over you.

In fact, it took over fourteen hours before you even managed to register the smallest of things. The sudden clarity and safety having made your body going on lock-down to catch up on the missed rest while you travelled. As you blearily pried your eyes open, wincing when the sharp light of the sun managed to register in through your crusted lids, you noticed that there wasn’t only just the sun that lightened up the dimmed room, but also the rather gentle light of Grillby and blue sitting by each their own side of the bed.

Nevertheless, it took you a few minutes to register that, yes, you had actually slept for once without having any severe nightmares – or more memories, but by this point they were all the same – which probably was credited to the exhaustion from the healing and the sudden security you felt after several months in the field. You decided to revel in the comfort for once. Since you felt like you might need a few extra days of being unconscious, even though the worst part of the tiredness had been shaved off by sleeping.

Squinting at the blinds, you guessed it to be early morning by now, with how low the rays of sunlight were on the flooring and in your face.

Moving to sit up a little, you rubbed at your eyes to remove the stubborn crustiness sticking there and noticed that you weren’t alone in the room.

With blue sitting leaning against the back of the chair and clearly knocked out, you saw something that reminded you immensely of drool running down his chin. Suppressing a laugh, you turned to see Grillby rest his head on his arms propped up on your sheets.

Okay, this was just a little funny. You guessed that they hadn’t gone back to their own homes, wherever those were, and had instead decided to sit and watch over you as you slept.

An unknown feeling sprung in your chest at the sentiment. With you quickly feeling a blush creep up the base of your neck, unsure as for what to do now. You didn’t want to wake the two elementals, but you knew that they should probably go home and sleep in their own beds, instead of sitting here and probably gaining some pretty nasty pain in their necks.

So, ever so gently, you placed your hand on top of Grillby’s flames, gingerly running your fingers through the seemingly non-sentient small flecks of fire.

It took a minute or two before he started to wake, though you didn’t mind much with the way the flames caressed your roughened fingertips. It was first when you heard a huff of breath, that you thought he was waking up, even if it didn’t make you stop your ministrations since it felt almost entrancing.

When he finally opened his eyes, you smiled, which also made you aware that somebody had peeled the mask off from your face. The thought made you reflexively stiffen, with your free hand going up to press against your mouth. Then it took you a moment for you to realize that you actually didn’t need it anymore, or at the very least, when inside the city.

Though as you sat there and contemplated the actual facts of your situation. You could feel a dumb smile grow on your lips, and then the hand was serving a more noble purpose of not showing to the roused Grillby, how big of a dork you looked at that moment.

God it honestly felt a little surreal to finally have arrived in Haven, beaten and bruised but alive, you’d made it.

Staring at your change in expression, Grillby apparently noticed the subtitle shifts in your mood and reached up to remove the hand that was still clasped over your face. You just barely managed to school your face before he removed it, leaving you with a relaxed smile, instead of the dumb grin you’d been displaying.

“It’s kind of unreal that I’m actually here.” You muttered as he moved to sit up, pulling the chair further near your bed so that he was closer to you. “I’m honestly expecting myself to wake up out in the forest any moment now.” At the end, you couldn’t help but let your expression light up a little more. Because it seriously felt like that, but you weren’t going to, you were safe.

Well as safe as Haven could be, and judging by the rumors, that was pretty damn safe.

That seemed to relax him some, since you were joking and just sounded like you were just having a hard time adjusting to the sudden change in environment, which you were. “You deserve the rest.”

“Heh, I guess.” Leaning back into the pillows, you noticed that you had yet to wake your other companion, even with your conversation going. Huh, must be a heavy sleeper.

Well you couldn’t really judge, since you’d also just been out for a long time.

Nevertheless, you turned your attention over to Blue, who hadn’t stirred at all. Leaning over to your side, you carelessly poke his cheek that wasn’t covered in drool. The awakening of the secondary exhausted elemental was rather comical, startling so much that his chair almost titled backwards. He just barely managed to assess his situation before toppling to the ground, jumping up as the chair continued its fall.

Fully snapping out of his sleepy stupor, he shot you a grumpy look. “Why, in all the hells, did you do that?”

You just smiled, “Because I wanted to see what could happen?”

He humph’ed. “You have a deathwish?” though you could see that he was more relieved than anything, probably because you were awake.

“Nah, though I feel a little weird about everything right now.” Which was true, the giddy feeling was still fluttering in your chest. “I honestly think I need a workout or something.” Then you looked down at yourself and noticed that you were still covered in sweat and grime. “Or maybe a shower, no, definitely a shower.”

That made both elementals wonder for a minute, and you realized that since they were fire, they’d probably never need to wash the dirt off, since it dissolves when coming into contact with the heat.

Blue was the first one to speak up. “I think there’s one near the front of the building, but maybe we should ask Toriel about it, since she also knows where you can get some clean clothes.”

“Yeah, probably.” Though you had no idea as to how you would find the large monster. The thought of finally being able to shower and put on something that hadn’t been worn for days on end was immensely attractive.

As if called, the large monster showed. Walking in through the door with a bundle in her large paws, she had seemingly thought way ahead of any of you. “Oh! How pleasant to see that you’re awake ____, I’m glad.”

You just smiled shyly at the monster, the freedom of not wearing your mask having added an ability to express yourself beyond motions and words. Though you would have a harder time trying to keep yourself leveled than out in the field.

And of course, you recalled that you should’ve reported to this, uh, person-in-power-that-you-can’t-remember-the-name-of the moment you woke up. You smile dropped, settling instead into a worried frown. “Shouldn’t I go and explain my situation? Didn’t Papyrus mention that yesterday?”

“Oh no.” while her words were relatively relaxed, you caught onto a knife-sharp edge hidden in them. “You will have plenty of time to go and get ready, they are first expecting you tonight since the different chores of the day has to get out of the way, which it leaves us all with enough time to get you all fixed up and comfortable, after your long travels here.”

Nodding mutely, you once again got the distinct feeling that the monster in front of you was probably a whole lot more influential than you’d think for a healer. Eh, if you were sticking around in either case, you would probably have plenty of time to figure out the people you were going to be around.

For now, your goal would be to get clean and feel less like one of the more unpleasant plods that you’d encountered.

Testing the strength of your previously damaged shoulder, you found that it was probably just as functional as before. Amazing. Making your way over to Toriel, you once again felt slightly dwarfed by the size that both she, and the two elementals sported. With the guys being about a head taller, you barely managed to reach her shoulder. Suddenly, the height of all the ceilings made more sense, especially when you knew that there were great variations to a monster’s height.

Following Toriel, you noticed that both elementals had taken to staying with you, which left them trailing in your heels and seemingly a little unsure as to if they should continue.

Noticing the tail, Toriel just called out over her shoulder; “You two can go and spend your time elsewhere, it will take some time to get ready, so you two can go and don the uniform that was provided for you while we’re busy.”

With a dismissive grumble – you never really liked formal attire either – they broke off at one of the corridors that apparently led out of the building. To you, all the rooms seemed the same, so you couldn’t really tell, but you felt the absence of your companions like a chill on your back. You hadn’t even noticed how comforting it was to have them with you these past few days.

Stopping at a large curtain, Toriel handed you the pile she’d been carrying, gesturing for you to enter. “The bathrooms here are unisex, but don’t worry. If anyone tries to lay a single finger on you without your consent, there are Moldsmals positioned in there that are very good at detecting that sort of thing.”

You hadn’t even considered that there might be a need for gender-restricted tubs, since at Marina, it’d just been switching between the genders depending on the day. Although, there hadn’t often been enough water for everyone to wash the grime off, so the rule had been ignored in most cases.

As Toriel gave you an encouraging wave as she left, you looked at the clothes that had been provided for you. It was a loose tunic-like shirt with loose pants. Probably not the formal uniform that Grillby and Blue had been provided, but apparently plenty for the outsider that hadn’t had a chance to settle yet.

Pushing aside the curtain, you were met with a face-full of steam and the sight of several groups of both monsters and humans talking together as they were in various stages of getting clean. With a few rows of shelves for the clothes, you could spot a large tub in the middle of the room, surrounded by a few smaller ones. You guessed that the smaller were for rinsing dirt off and the large for actually soaking and social interactions.

Honestly, you felt inclined to avoid the large tub presently. The whole thing about actually socializing while naked was ten times more uncomfortable as actually socializing. You would be bare, in the most literal sense.

So, big tub was a no-go.

Stripping off your boots and other clothes, you stood in front of one of the less occupied shelves. Feeling a little misplaced with all the obvious groups of friends that had occupied various tubs and areas of the large one, you made a beeline for one of the free tubs, while desperately trying not to let any of the stares that were shot in your direction get to you. It was hard, as your appearance had apparently brought the attention of about half the place.

Almost slipping, you sank down into your tub, wincing as the water dug into your various marks and scrapes. Even if Toriel had healed the worst of them, it seemed that the majority had to heal the natural way.

Finding a little holder of soaps and other various necessities, you began scrubbing away at all the parts you could reach of your grimy skin. As you occupied yourself with the task, the friendly chatter that had sounded as you entered, picked up again as you hadn’t tried to do anything disapproving. You couldn’t help yourself from breathing a sigh of relief.

Raking the soap over a particularly stubborn spot of dirt, you noticed something small nearing your tub. Taking a look out the corner of your eye, you spotted a small monster that looked just a little less sentient than the standard, peering curiously at you with no eyes.

Ah, that must be a Moldsmal. You had no clue otherwise, since it looked like it had no need to actually get clean.

Holding out your hand, you gently cooed at it, as it seemingly continued its inspection, and with a final bob to your palm, it moved on to more interesting things.

What an odd little thing. Nevertheless, it displayed no inclination to interact with you further as it skittered away and you returned to your duty of removing the discolored patches of skin.

“You’re new, aren’t cha’?” A voice suddenly appeared near your ear, making you startle and the soap slip out from between your fingers. Cursing slightly, you could only watch as it bobbed under the water and disappeared out of sight. Turning your attention over to the person that had scared you, you were met with the sight of an odd-limped combination of what seemed like parts of a mannequin and a training-dummy mixed together.

Blinking, you finally registered the question that had been shot your way. “Yeah.”

“Hm.” You had a hard time placing the eyes of the person, but you managed to see two orbs focusing on your form. “Looks like you had a rough time out there.”

Unsure about the tone you got from the monster, you just hesitantly nodded. Watching as the body-parts that you’d usually see as sturdy and immobile, bent and fit like normal limbs while the monster lowered their body into the tub you were also sitting in. “Did ya manage to kill some of those bastards?”

Again, a rather awkward nod.

You had little to no idea as to why the monster had gone up to talk to you, and even less how their body worked.

“Nice! They deserve it.” As the monster spoke, it reached out one mal-placed limb out “Give it ‘ere.”

Uh. “What?”

“The soap! Give it ‘ere so that I can help ya with that useless sop of fur you got on yer head!”

Grabbing another soap off the tray, you awkwardly handed it to them, unsure as to if they were trying to be helpful or just wanted a human to yell at. However, despite the roughness to their speech, the fingers that pried your clumps of hair apart were surprisingly gentle.

“Ye’r just like those dogs, rollin’ in dirt and not getting all of the stuff out.”

You had to laugh at the comparison. “I doubt that they have been out in the fields for two months straight.”

“Two freaking months?” Woops, were you not supposed to tell others about your circumstances before seeing the ‘big guy’? – you still couldn’t remember the name – or was it alright? Eh, what’s done is done. “Damn, a nice surprise to see ye’re still livin’!”

After that, a few minutes of comfortable quietness passed while you tried to locate your escapee soap with your feet. Despite the slight oddness you felt about actually permitting somebody to touch you without startling, the sensation of the dirt finally releasing your hair and the strands separating was nice.

“’m Dummy.”

“huh?”

“My freaking name is Dummy!” you had little idea how he could make causal speech sound like a yell, but finally caught onto what he was saying.

“Oh, sorry. I’m ____.”

“Hmph.” You were unsure if you’d messed up something, since the monster didn’t say anything more beyond that. Just finishing rinsing, the last grime flushed out of your hair and disappeared into the water that had started taking on a murky sort of color. The monster moved out of the tub without a word.

Alright. That was a little odd. Even with your limited conversations with Grillby and Blue, you had the feeling that perhaps something had displeased the monster, since it had left without a word.

Cleaning the last of the dirt off your body, you reached for the towel you’d placed nearby as you slowly stood and began to dry your – god had it really grown that long, you had no idea – hair with the cloth. Cautiously making your way over the slippery tiles, you dried yourself off and tucked the towel back near the hanger you’d gotten it from in the first place, noticing a dirty-bin right beside it.

Dressing and fiddling with keeping your hair out of your face, you noticed that the whole outfit was a clear creamy color, not light enough that scuffs and bits of dirt would show, but certainly nothing that you would wear in the field either.

Exiting the chamber, you noticed that you were left with no idea what-so-ever as to where you were supposed to go now. Toriel hadn’t given you any instructions and neither elemental was present, so you were in the most literal sense, lost.

You couldn’t find your way back to the room you were in, and standing with your dirty clothes, you just accepted your fate of boredom and sat down on the floor next to the curtain that marked the entrance to the bathing-chamber.

Letting out a sigh, you placed the clothes by your side as you leaned back against the wall.

Feeling something prod your hand, you looked down to see another Moldsmal curiously investigate your fingers, or was it the same one as before? You had no idea. Deciding that you had nothing else to pass the time with, you interacted with the curious monster. Letting it look and even chew a little on your fingers, it latched up onto your arm, and knowing that it was harmless, you let it.

Getting a few odd side-looks from both monsters and humans that exited the room, you ignored their stares in favor of watching the small being crawl its way up your arm. It was actually quite adorable, in the slightly morbid sense.

By the time it had made its way up your shoulder and apparently rested on top of your head, you heard somebody calling your name. Slowly, as not to make the Moldsmal drop off, you lifted your head from your knees and tried to see who it was.

As graceful as ever, Toriel was the one nearing your form, shaking her head, she took noticed your situation. “Have you been waiting long?”

“No, I just finished.” It was a lie, but you didn’t feel like causing the sweet monster any further stress. “Is it time?”

“Ah, yes.” Taking a second to take in your appearance, she let out a whole-hearted laugh at the sight of your little companion. “I’m taking it, that you have found another little friend.”

You just let a slight smile creep onto your lips in response. “I have no idea what it’s doing.”

“It’s quite endearing, that is for certain.” She then motioned for her to pry it off your hair. “But the others are expecting you soon, so it’ll have to wait here.”

To your imminent surprise, the Moldsmal seemed displeased with leaving its post on top of your head, ducking away from Toriel’s paw.

“Why, have I ever. Off with you. Your friend will have to go away from the baths, so you will have to patiently stay until they return.” Finally, apparently catching onto something in her tone, or maybe just being unable to dodge her hand anymore, it let go of your head in favor for dropping off and inching its way back into the chamber. “That’s it, off you go.”

Standing up, your eyes followed the displeased form of the small monster until it disappeared behind the curtain. “I’ve never met those before.”

“Oh, they’re quite harmless. Alerts others if there is malice in the air and keeps unfortunate incidents to a minimum in the baths. They thrive on the humidity in there and usually sticks to random positions throughout the room.” Toriel smiled as she followed your line of vision.

Finally, you gestured to the pile you’d placed on the floor. “What do I do with these?”

“Dearest me, those can just be put into the dirty-bin. The cleaners will figure out what to do with those.”

You don’t question how they’ll know they’re yours, the answer will probably either creep you out or be chalked down to ‘magic’. So, disposing the bundle into the same bin as you did the towel, you follow Toriel through the maze of corridors.

“Now, since we have a little way to go before we’re there, do you have any questions?” Her voice is as serene as always, and you take your time to think about it.

Honestly, there was only one thing that really plagued your mind. “What are the names of the people I’m supposed to meet? Papyrus mentioned them before, but I can’t remember them.”

“Understandable, you only just arrived yesterday after all. The current headsman of the city is Asgore, he has held his democratic position ever since the whole thing started. Besides from him, I believe that Undyne is going to be present, with her there are a mix of different monsters that could accompany her. Since she’s the head of the guard, she often changes the person patrolling with her to keep them on their toes.” She took a minute to think at this. “But I believe that the person that would be present with her is either Alph, or Doggo.”

Making no indication to further detail which is which, you just hope that you’ll be able to discern the differences between the guardsmen.

Stepping outside of the building, you notice that your two elementals were waiting outside, clad in a much more official-looking outfits than yours, they took on the look quite well. Though they didn’t look very comfortable.

Silently, they joined your excursion outside, each walking passively on either of your sides. While you got the impression that Grillby wasn’t just being his usual mute self, and the uncharacteristic quietness Blue displayed, you felt your own nerves start stirring a little.

Continuing your walk in an awkward silence, you saw that you were getting closer to the large tree you’d spotted when your company first entered the place. Spotting a large building resting upon one of the roots of the giant, you guessed by the looks of it, that it would be your imminent destination.

Oh, god. You felt a little less willing to be interrogated by complete strangers about your probably most sore experience, within that large ominous structure.

Nevertheless, just as you started contemplating turning tail and running. Two hands each clasped down on your shoulders and gave an encouraging squeeze.

Right, you weren’t alone. Shooting a look to either side, you saw the people who’d made this whole thing a reality. A swell of something unknown filling your chest, pushing away the nerves that had started prying your senses in an uncomfortable way.

You could do this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, so rude Dummy.


	9. Madness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You finally manage to explain what happened to you, prior to getting picked up by the two elementals anyhow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyhow! It's been a while! Sorry guys, I've just had exams and other stuff shredding off what motivation I had to write at all, but now dobby is a free elf! (Ф∀Ф)
> 
> So, since it's been a while, I'm a little rusty with this story. Which I will hopefully be able to pick up again! Though the rustyness means that there might be mistakes and other stupid contradicting stuff in this chapter, so if any of you lovelies spot any, I would be glad to correct it! ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿
> 
> Also, a warning! Stuff is a bit rough and graphic here, so just beware if you're uncomfortable with that stuff! (Tho you might've guessed, based on how the fic has been going up until this point) (・∀・)

Though, even with the best of encouragement. There was still a sickening feeling dwelling in your stomach as you entered the building through a side-door. Toriel explained that the double-doors where only open when there were offices available, because it needed a large part of the guard to keep the surveillance if they were ajar.

Nevertheless, with your little group walking through the long corridors – you felt like you’d been doing that a lot recently – you noticed that despite the impression that you had gotten from the outside, the insides of the building were fairly well-lit with large windows that permitted the sunlight to stream inside and long rows of lamps stuck to the ceiling. It wasn’t as discomforting as you’d feared, though your body still didn’t agree with the activity you’d been putting it through.

Peering nervously at your companions, Toriel apparently caught onto your slightly panicked expression and smiled warmly at you. “Do not worry ____. Even with his faults, Asgore wouldn’t have kept his seat if he was a tyrant. He will wait for you to explain your circumstances before asking any questions, and we will be beside you.”

“Yeah.” sounded the ever-so optimistic voice of Blue from behind you. “It’s more protocol than anything, so just take it easy.”

While their words were comforting and helped calm you down some, it was still with some hesitance that you moved onwards through the insides of the building. As you passed room after room, you noticed a large number of illustrations mark the walls, battlefields, stories and anything in between. Some seemed to have taken a great care to picture even the slightest of details about the circumstances, while others weren’t unlike children’s-drawings.

Seemed like any had been permitted to paint the walls in here.

As you distract yourself with gazing at the wall on your side, you just barely caught onto the others slowing their pace as you neared the end of the corridor that was blocked by a wooden door. Displaying an almost ominous air, you hesitated for a second. Instead, Toriel reached out one large paw to knock twice on the wood, and without waiting for a reply, pushed open the door.

The room that was revealed seemed to be rather simple, though slightly messy. With papers strewn in various piles on all table-surfaces and several pieces of pottery filled with flowers in all sorts and colors. It was a little different than how you expected the office of a lord of the city to look like.

Snapping your attention back to the figure seated on the other side of the largest desk parallel to where you were standing, you notice a person with an appearance not unlike Toriel’s except that they seem to be a male version of the species that was probably a third larger than the female counterpart. Dressed in a large shirt, with the matched suit-jacket draped over the back of the chair that he was situated. Asgore seemed to fit the role of a leader well.

At either side were a monster, one tall and bulky, dressed in armor that was a mix of leather and metal that seemed a few centuries older than the clothes a normal guard would wear. You guessed the intimidating and silent figure to be Undyne. Whereas to the other side of the chair, was a dog leaned back against the wall, light reflected in its eyes as they flittered around the room, surveying every detail. His dressing was much more casual, with the military shirt and breeches that you’d also seen the other scouts wear in Marina.

Finally resetting your attention fully back to the headsman of the city, your eyes locked into a pair of golden irises, wisdom and rapt curiosity almost shining through.

Gesturing to the chairs positioned in front of you, parallel to his own, Asgore’s deep baritone rang out through the room. “Welcome ____, I believe that you have just recently arrived from the infested lands? Why don’t you all take a seat and we will see to what we can arrange for you in this city.”

Grateful for the opportunity to sit down, you almost fell the last centimeters down onto the chair. On each side of you, the others took their place, with Toriel sitting in the chair beside you and the two elementals apparently preferring to stand at attention behind you on each their own side.

You did not feel ready for this conversation.

Though, luckily, Asgore took the awkward beginning of the conversation in his own hands. Leaning back tiredly in his large chair, he rested his cheek on one propped-up hand. “So, ____. I’m afraid that the others have been unable to debrief me on much of your past, since they seem to also only have met you recently. Where are you from and how come you have traveled this long to reach Haven?”

Okay, that was to be expected. None of the others knew of it, so of course he would need the full story. Sitting up a little straighter in your chair, you shot a hesitant look over to Toriel, who, in response, just nodded encouragely.

Alright. You could do this.

At first, your words were hesitant. You came from Marina, a smaller city, that was just barely able to provide enough for themselves. But they survived, the scouts were good at keeping an eye on the movements of the hordes and the guard managed to repel any large incoming attacks that could possible destroy the basic barrier that was erected around their livelihoods.

When passing over the initial introduction, telling of your own role, being one of the veteran scouts despite your age. You went into less details about how you lived, and moved on quicker to how you’d ended up in this whole situation. While you knew that all of the monsters in the room caught onto your brief introduction, none spoke up about it.

The city had been able to handle itself, fighting off the hordes and producing just enough food and other products to get by from day to day. However, some had started to give up on the belief that this hell-like living would pass with time. Too many had lost almost all of their family, their friends, the people they’d known most of their lives. So instead of a hopeful trust towards the future, they’d started to give up.

While many of the citizens knew that this was common, with the last passing years had only been getting harder, the ones that did not ready themselves – steeling the mind, as many would say it – the initial sense of everything being hopeless was inevitable.

Many took their lives if they started going down this self-destructive spiral. For a few years, the numbers that were lost tended to mostly be caused by this. Though these past two, the occurrence had dwindled. Many had breathed a sigh of relief, hearing for months, that none had been lost to neither the abominations nor despair.

There had been a sliver of light. Belief that humans and monsters alike would no longer have the fear of having to walk in on seeing a part of their last remaining family or friends, bleeding out, hanging from a noose, or as a dry pile of dust on the floor.

Even your paranoid self, had started to believe it.

Then, you’d been out one evening. Having a few days off, you’d been traversing the market, looking for nothing specific, when you’d heard something worrying down one of the nearby alleyways. Turning down to investigate, it had been a trap.

A group had formed, from despair, from the never-ending feeling of dread.

They’d planned, dragged others into their circle. A maelstrom of giving up, saying that if death was inevitable, why not just end it once and for all.

You had to take a shuddering breath as you continued, the memories still sore – in truth, you thought that they will never fade, always lingering – looking down onto your lap, you didn’t feel like you could tell the next part, not while meeting the shocked eyes of the others. The silence hung heavily on your shoulders, exhausting.

Honestly, in the back of your mind, spending all of that time alone out in the wilderness, you’d never truly wished to tell the tale. Even if it was your one true reason why you fought so hard to reach this point.

It was choking.

You had to tell them. _You didn’t want to_.

Keeping your sight peeled on the floorboards underneath, you dug your thumb into the palm of your other hand.

 _Focus_.

They’d used a ruse, a performance trick. When you’d heard a scream, you’d reacted with all of your training, telling you to _find_ and _protect_.

Which was why they managed to knock you out.

You don’t remember how they managed to transport you into the cellar, how none had noticed your lost presence.

Well, you do remember the rest.

Details too harsh to truly recall, you only explained that, while they were a rather large group, they actually didn’t want you to die.

They wanted to recruit you.

You denied their proposition.

Though they continued to explain their view, how everything was pointless and that trying to survive, to fight against _it_. Was a waste of time. They promised you a leading role in their plan, your experience with tracking and luring small groups of zombies away from the city an asset that they desperately needed. They wanted to gather the largest horde possible, and _fuse it_. Making something that was capable of breaking down the barrier, and finally end this fruitless struggle that both monsters and humans kept up.

Your only response had been to bite the hand that the leader had put under your chin to keep your gaze interlocked with theirs. You’d seen insanity there, pure and maniac-like.

It wasn’t torture per se, but it wasn’t anything like a midday discussion over tea either.

You didn’t want to explain.

Neither Asgore nor Toriel said anything to it. Their silence a good enough approval for you to continue.

There had been no method of measuring time in the cellar, their treatments making it even less discernable. Nevertheless, with how bad the malnutrition and lack of sleep was for you, you’d guessed several weeks, perhaps even a month.

Then one day, none showed up.

A long period of time passed, with no soul showing themselves to you, permitting you to regain some of your scattered wits.

Then it happened.

 _Something_ – you had no clue as to what – exploded outside.

That’s when you’d guessed that the group had made their move. Since everything literally came down after that.

The building collapsed around you, the ties that had bound you to your place, breaking. But you had no way out, with the structure falling and burying you under tons of cement and metal.

It took you hours to get out. As if some higher power had held its hand over you, you’d not suffered much more than minor scrapes in your wild escape from the ruin.

The first thing you noticed, was the lack of clean air.

They had somehow, without a doubt, managed to make it possible for the horde to damage the barrier to a point where it broke.

You didn’t have time to revel over it.

You needed to get a mask, and quick.

Your tale paused, a disrupting memory forcing its way to the surface of your mind.

_A corpse laid there, or more like, what might have been a corpse. It hadn’t been the zombies that had gotten to the poor citizen, guessing by the lack of bite-marks, instead, half of the body had been burned away. Like there had been a fire._

_By its side, laid another. The mask untouched, since the burn had gotten them from behind. The straps gone and one filter only functioning, you fought back the blackness from your sight as your weakened arms struggled to pry it off the dead man._

_There had been no other signs of life struggling to hang on, an eerie silence hanging over the place that had been bustling with life the last time you’d laid eyes on it._

_It was all gone._

A warm hand startled you out of your thoughts. Your silence had apparently lasted a while. Looking up, you noticed that it was Grillby who’d managed to get you out of the daze once again. You shot him a forced smile, not wanting any of them to worry.

Clearing your throat, you resumed. “I then managed to grab enough non-infected essentials from the buildings that hadn’t suffered under the attack. I’d heard that Haven was the most powerful and well-certified city on this side of the plains, so I thought…”

“You thought?” Asgore kindly lead you on, having leaned forward to pay better attention as you laid out your story.

“I believed that it, _whatever it is_ that ripped down our barrier. That you might be able to be ready for it… None of the smaller towns would be able to fortify enough to meet it.” Your eyes hardened. “Marina was no small town, while it struggled, it was also one of the largest in the area. I don’t want the same to happen to the people living here.” So here you were, a meek and useless messenger, that hadn’t even been able to see that-that horrible _thing_.

You sat in silence for a few moments, the others taking in what you had just said. Until you heard Toriel gasp to your side, calling your name worriedly, she reached out to take your one hand in hers.

Oh, your nail had broken the skin.

Crap.

You hadn’t even noticed.

Cradling your palm in both of hers, Toriel let that same light pulse through the air as the last time she’s healed you. Focusing on the unintentional wound on your hand, the hole was healed within seconds. When she let go of your hand, you shrunk a little under the worried glance she shot your way.

“Well.” Asgore placed rose from his chair, motioning for his guard to follow and walked over to kneel in front of you. Even on his one knee, his eyes were still a little higher than yours, but you at the very least didn’t have to crane your neck to look at him. “I can guarantee you, ____, I will be sending scouts out to find them and that you coming here has already helped immensely.”

With the harsh memories floating around in the back of your head, reawakened from your tale. You could only muster a slight nod and a “It was my duty.” To the large monster.

You already felt weary.

Though, since you were in a leader’s company, you couldn’t relax just yet. He was still speaking to you.

“Do you wish to live here in Haven, or have you another destination in mind?”

“I…” You honestly hadn’t expected to last this long, so there had been no further point to reach, this had been your end-station. “I have nowhere else to go.” You shrugged. “But if it’s a burden to the city, I can continue on my own.”

That apparently took the large monster off-guard, a disbelieving look being shot to your companions, who’d stiffened to your reply as well. Returning his gaze to you, his deep rumbling voice permitted no dismissal. “____, we are not as lacking as to turn such a brave soul away from our walls. You will be present temporary living arrangements, until we can find a more permanent solution.”

Toriel broke into the conversation after that, rising from her chair. “I believe that the rooms in the barracks that they have been staying in until now will do, until we are done with integrating them into the city.”

Nodding, Asgore approved. “That will have to do.” He then stood as well, “My apologies, but I will have to make preparations after such grave news. All four of you are permitted to leave for now.”

You had a hard time standing, even though you couldn’t have been sitting on the chair for much more than a couple of hours while talking, it seemed that the stress and the sudden relief that came with finally having lifted _that_ off from your shoulders. Honestly, it made you a little dizzy.

So you did not almost pass out on somebody that was as powerful as a king, no sir.

Though you might have stumbled a little, whereas the gentle monster had held out a hand to help steady yourself. Much to the disapproval of his guards.

“Sire. You must be more precautious! What if it had all been a fiddle to get close to you.” The armored captain of the guard spoke from his side, keeping a watchful eye on every little movement that you made in the space of her charge.

You just wanted to get out of there, even a day filled with fighting had not been as mentally exhausting as how you felt presently. Having to suppress the memories, the treatment you’d received, wasn’t easy when you were trying to explain your circumstances.

“All is well, Undyne.” Toriel said from her position by your side, addressing the agitated monster. “We will take our leave for now.” Reaching out to pull you closer to her form, the look she shot at the larger monster was – to say it mildly – poisonous.

Though, you didn’t pay it much mind, only wishing to return to that comfortable bed.

Letting them lead you back out of the room, you took one glance back at the three figures by the other end. Asgore, mighty and tall, was already sitting huddled over papers once more, undoubtedly writing out orders to act on your warning, with both guards having moved to stand closer to his desk, participating in the discussion.

You just hoped that it was enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! That was a thing! 
> 
> We will delve into the more prominent and rougher details surrounding the whole thing a bit at a time, but for now you guys have the general outline!
> 
> Yay, I guess!
> 
> As always, I would love to hear your opinion or anything else really! It really boosts my motivation to see all the comments and the kudos received during the story! <3


	10. Crystal clear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You manage to get a bit more integrated into the system at Haven.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah... uh... so sorry. 
> 
> I've been working a lot and my writing's been p much non-existent... 
> 
> But yeah, after this the pace should pick up again to atleast twice-a-week schedules. 
> 
> Welp, enjoy.

You’d never really realized it, that there was actually a colony – a city, which could manage to keep itself more than just afloat in the circumstances that surrounded the world in the present time.

Nevertheless, walking back from that towering building, you saw the same hustle and bustle as when you first arrived in the arms of your companions. Mothers, children, fathers and other family of every kind were moving through the crowds, laughing, bickering or just chatting quietly.

It was different, but not bad. The calm and bustling atmosphere was something that eased your worries about the future, it felt like a sign that you could maybe survive this whole ordeal.

Passing some of the markets, you noticed a large amount of stalls being set up.

Toriel was the first one to speak after you left that tense experience back at the office, “Oh my, seems like the night-market is about to open up.”

You lessened your pace, craning your neck slightly to look up at her. “A night-market? You have those here?”

“Why yes,” She laughed, looking around fondly at the surrounding people, the numbers had dwindled a bit since midday the previous time you had been out here, but still a lot more than you were used to. “We tend to host two markets during a full day, since there are people with different times for working. It also evens out the more varied stalls that sells… goods that perhaps children shouldn’t be subjected to.”

To prove her point, you walked by one that was displaying various weapons in glass-cases, seemingly still not approved to wildly distribute the hazardous devices, though you can’t help but admire some of the crafting that went into it.

“How do you afford it?” You asked, eyeing a particularly appealing stiletto of a knife, probably much stronger than your previous one. “Is it going through that point-system of yours? I think you tried to explain at one point, but I didn’t really register much of it.”

“Indeed, us in Haven, along with having everything registered in a system, have also developed a magic-based device that helps keep everything together.” To which she pulled out something akin to a crystal out of her sleeve. “These. They’re cheap and easy to make and customize, and this way, we also know where people are. You will also have one made, once you’re fully rested and one of us has the time to go and show you how the systems in Haven works.”

You eyed the small piece, resting in the palm of the much larger monster. “What if you lose it? Can others use it instead of you?”

It was Blue that answered that, “Nah, they’re made with a binding magic that almost makes the crystal glue itself to you, it’ll always stay in close proximity of you since it’s bound with something of yours. Us monsters only have to insert a bit of our magic into it, and I think humans have to input something with your DNA so that it’ll work.” You’d noticed that both elementals had stayed passively quiet by your side, and you were relieved to hear that Blue still spoke like before. Hopefully, your tale hadn’t spooked them.

When Blue took a pause to think about what else he might’ve missed saying, Grillby added; “The only way to prevent the user from having it, would be to destroy the crystal. Otherwise none can use it but the owner.” You shot a glance in his direction, seeing his calm gaze meet with yours, a weight you hadn’t noticed you carried lifted from your shoulders.

“Good to know.” You only managed to mutter, redirecting your gaze from his. It was a little bit harder to talk to the others, when they knew your rather humiliating story and all that.

Continuing on, you admired the handicrafts that littered the different stalls. A few even presented some electronics that had been pushed aside after the whole mess started, seemingly managing to make the broken devices functional again. It was amazing how clear the juxtaposition was from inside of the protective barrier to outside where everything was one big game of run and hide.

Wandering through the crowd, your eyes flittered over the various inventory available, a thought hitting you. “Where will I be staying from now on? I haven’t earned any points yet, and I don’t have any idea how I’m gonna enlist for the scouts here.”

“You still want to be in the scouts?” Blue asked curiously, him and Grillby supposedly sticking to your side for the time being.

You shrugged, feeling a bit off in the cheerful atmosphere surrounding the market. “I don’t have the talent for anything else.”

The following silence made you sweat, wanting nothing more than to get some more rest. These last few days had been harsh, with your wounds and everything. Even sleeping for as long as you had, your body still ached uncomfortably from all the stress you had put onto it.

A bit nervous, you looked around for Toriel, seeing her by one of the stalls you’d passed, you turned on your heel to go back. The noise around you starting to feel a little much.

Approaching her large figure, she turned her attention away from the vendor to smile easily at you. “I’m sorry for sidetracking when you obviously need some more rest. But I believe that since we were on the subject, we could get you a crystal.” At her words, she held up a crystal about the size of the last joint of your thumb, marginally smaller than her own. “I thought that the white crystals would suit you, since you can’t customize them a lot after you’ve bound one to you.”

Picking up and inspecting a few of the ones on the table, you finally look at the one that Toriel recommended to you. It did look nice, and the shape didn’t feel edgy or overly flashy. “Yeah, maybe something like this.”

“Splendid! We will then return later once you’ve had some time to get used to staying here, and make sure that you get registered in the system.” Watching Toriel for a minute as she exchanged pleasantries with the monster standing by the stall to make sure that they reserved the stone for you, you noticed that she looked happier than before.

The excuse to change her usual schedule of her mostly staying within the hospital must have been a good thing, even with the ominous spark between her and the leader.

Thinking about your own state, and how much Toriel probably needed a bit of free-time from her busy work, you stopped her by gently patting her shoulder. “I’m alright, we can do the thing now. Otherwise I think I’ll forget with all of the other things I’ll have to do.”

Blue amusedly huffed and muttered something under his breath that you only managed to vaguely catch, it sounded like “Like you’ll forget something you need to live here.” Whereas you just shot him an unamused look and chose to ignore him as you liked how Toriel visibly brightened by the idea.

“Very well ____, it’ll take a little while for the binding to settle. So we’ll need to keep you here for about half an hour, is that alright?” While happy for the prospect of spending more time together, Toriel still seemed to need your approval for the necessary steps of the procedure.

“Yeah, I’ll be alright.” Your voice was a bit worn from all the speaking. But thinking about it, you had plenty time to sleep later.

“Wonderful, can I just see your hand for a second?” raising a confused eyebrow, you place your palm against hers.

Just as a slight blaze of light illuminates Toriel’s fur, you feel a twinge of pain. Nevertheless, the pain disappeared just as quickly.

What?

Pulling back your hand, you see that there is a miniscule red drop of blood caught in a small container of flame. Ah, she did mention that humans needed to use blood to bind it.

Handing the drop to the monster at the booth, they nodded respectfully towards Toriel and turned away to start working on the crystal. The moment they did so, you noticed that out of their back, beautiful crystals sprouted, similar to the ones on the table.

Shooting Toriel a curious look, she gave you a knowing nod in reply. “They are indeed forged on the spine of these monsters, we are fortunate that there was a long line of them near Haven when the accident happened. Willingly, they manage most of the production to every single citizen here so that we’re able to track them and make sure that we have a functioning system.”

You nod, a bit unsure as to what you would be doing now. With the monster working its magic into the foggy crystal, your little group couldn’t do much more than wait.

Wait a minute, does that mean that Grillby and Blue also had crystals?

You look up curiously at your companions, “Can I see yours?”

They both just nodded their consent, crystals seemingly appearing from their skin.

Blue explained; “It’s easier for us to make them stay under the outer layer of our magic, since they can’t get damaged that way.” Huh, made sense.

Looking at the two crystals, you saw that they looked similar to yours. Same foggy appearance on the inside, though theirs were bigger than the one you had chosen. If you hadn’t seen Toriel’s deep indigo, you’d thought that most of them were similar with the color.

What a coincidence.

Continuing to chatter back forth a little while waiting, you found that you were relaxing a little more when the crowd wasn’t as close as before by the side of the stall. Several monsters also came to talk to Toriel, which left you with the company of the two elementals.

Blue was as apparently in a rather good mood after the whole thing with Asgore over and done with, having loosened the collar of his uniform and leaning carelessly against the side of the booth as the two of you spoke about the various duties of the scouts. Grillby was still bit of a passive conversationalist and only added the odd comment now and then.

“Wait, so you’re saying that none of the scouts are really permitted to go out on their own?” You’d been discussing how the tag-teams seemed to work the most efficiently with the various scouts, and Blue had mentioned that they usually weren’t really let out of the city alone. “How come Grillby was then?”

“Argh. You see-” Scratching his neck, Blue seemed a little hesitant with answering your question. “Grillby erh…”

That was when Grillby broke in with a, “I had left without permission.”

Oh.

That was… not good, right?

You stared at him, a bit stupefied at the contrast to almost everything you’d caught onto about his personality. Didn’t think that he would like to bend the rules like that. Maybe it had something to do with what he’d said when you first met, something about him being rather hesitant about going back to Haven.

But he couldn’t have gone to leave Haven forever, otherwise he wouldn’t keep his crystal on him. However, Blue had also said that it had been necessary to specifically send _him_ out to find Grillby, so perhaps the tracking wasn’t all that accurate.

Food for thought.

But not bothering to comment on his breaching of the rules, because really, were you one to set an example? You just gazed thoughtfully into the thickening crowd, watching as the will o’ wisp-like lights slowly lit up over the various booths in turn with the darkening sky.

Though you couldn’t see the stars anymore because of the dust-clouds in the higher atmosphere, the gentle light emitting from your two firey companions was about just as calming.

After a few more minutes of a rather companionable silence, Toriel announced that the crystal was about ready. “They will just need to bind it to you, and you’ll be all set.”

The vendor silently accepts your hand when you reach it out, gently placing the crystal against the pulse on your wrist. The ambient magic felt tingly on your skin and you had to bite your lip to prevent a laugh from escaping you at the light-headed sensation.

Though luckily, the feeling faded away. When the monster then released your hand, with the gleaming crystal clinging to the back of it, you couldn’t help but stare in slight awe.

“So… I’m all registered now?”

Toriel nodded, “Yes, that would be all. Everything can just be transferred with the intent to and you’ll receive your monthly usage once you’re settled.”

“Huh...” in the wisp light of the flames standing behind you, the plain crystal danced with color. A sure method of introducing someone to the city and at the same time, a method of making sure that they wouldn’t lose them. “Handy.”

A gentle smile on her lips, Toriel turned around to thank the monster producing the crystals. While you still admired the shimmer of the crystal, Blue moved over to stand beside you.

“Ready to head back now?” You nodded your head in reply, feeling the emotional fatigue when you turned your attention away from the beauty of the crystal.

With Grillby joining you on your other side, the three of you waited for Toriel to finish up the conversation. When she finally gave you a nod and a gentle smile, you knew that you’d received a prompting to go back on your own, she supposedly expected her presence to linger a little longer at the market.

Gratuitously accepting the dismissal, you nervously started to walk in the direction you think the hospice was located, though you weren’t completely sure with the many side streets there were. For now, you just concentrated on getting out of the market and the large mass of people.

Though halfway through the long row of booths, Blue reached out and took your hand, leading you the right way with a teasing smile. Similarly, Grillby was at your back, a warm hand hovering by your shoulder and helping with keeping the crowd at bay.

Finally, the three of you neared the hospice. With the large building easy to spot once you got out of the worst of the growing amount of humans and monsters, you could breathe a sigh of relief. Blue and Grillby also took their original positions by your sides as you traversed those few meters to the entrance.

When standing by the double-doors leading inside, you turned to your entourage, unsure. “I think I can find my way to my room from here.” Hoping that your voice sounded more sure than you felt, you gestured for them to go, surely they also needed the rest from the experience today.

Blue grinned, giving you a mock salute as he spoke, “Yes, yes. We’ll get going. Toriel would have our heads if we at the very least didn’t see you to the door,” he then lowered his hand to scratch awkwardly at his cheek, “would you… maybe want to meet up again tomorrow? So that we can maybe show you a bit more of the city in daytime.”

You raised your eyebrows a bit at the question, “Don’t you guys have more important stuff to do?”

Both of them shared a look, and to your imminent surprise, shrugged. In fact, it was otherwise passive Grillby that insisted, “We would much rather keep you company, since most of our other friends seem to be on duty currently.”

Feeling a little embarrassed that they preferred to spend time with you, you ducked your head and muttered an affirmative; “Sure then.” And headed inside of the building.

Head filled with an odd mixture of feelings, from both what you’d experienced today as well as the sudden companionship you’d gained in both elementals. That sort of thing did not happen to you often, gaining the trust of others just because of your incidental way of meeting them.

With your thoughts going as willy-nilly as they were, it came as no surprise that you managed to get lost twice over when trying to make your way back to your small room. Though with a finality to your actions, you actually managed to open the right door and make your way into the limited space. Feeling a need for some airing out, you pulled away the blinds to your window and opened them out to the alleyway. Not that much of an airing out happening with that, but you just needed the exchange of air somewhat in your meager space.

Changing out of your plain outfit, you noticed that despite the dust and other possibly dirty things you’d gotten into contact with during the day, not a spot was to be found on the pristine creamy-colored fabric.

Magically spun, you supposed. Folding the precious material together into a bundle and placing them in the small dresser you hadn’t noticed tucked into one of the corners of the room. In there, you also found several other outfits, including the one you’d tossed in the dirty-bin at the bath.

How in the? Actually, never mind. Thinking too much about such things tended to be confusing.

Releasing a relieved sigh, you got ready to sleep. Donning a loose shirt and underwear, you placed yourself in what felt like the softest bed you’d ever slept in.

Heh, two months on rough ground and catnapping probably lowered your standards to nothing when it came to your own comforts.

Reflecting on the day that had passed, you fiddled with the small crystal that was still stuck to your skin. You’d actually managed to get a real audience with most likely the most powerful man in the city, perhaps even the country. You’ve gained some trustworthy friends, ones that you felt that you could fully sacrifice yourself for. You’d told your tale within their presence and despite everything they’d still treated you the same as before, if even more like someone they’d known for years.

Feeling the pinprick of tears sting at your eyes, you shut them for good measure as to act like some emotional fool. Though you knew it was little use, you’d not had any close friends since long before you’d run to Marina and thinking about actually having perhaps found others that you wouldn’t mind working towards protecting.

Though you fell asleep with a content mind. Your psyche wouldn’t let you get away with another easy night’s sleep after just having forced yourself to tell the tale.

_There had been so much blood. You didn’t know what to do. Could you even have done anything._

_Like mocking the actual circumstances, the knife in your hand felt like the lightest of feathers. So easily used for the action you had to take. The survivor laying gasping and wheezing in front of you, only the plead of a granted easy death escaping their lips._

_You couldn’t recall their face, or maybe you didn’t want to. It could’ve been someone who’d cheerily greeted you at the marketplace, even when you never replied with much more than a nod. It could have been one of the few short lovers you’d taken._

_It could have been anybody._

_But now they were little more than a repressed memory. Their legs gone, charred from the explosion and leaving them unable to do much more than fear the turning._

_You shouldn’t have gone in to scavenge the building once you’d gotten your bearings._

_You shouldn’t…_

_But before you managed to register it, you had given in to their cries. Knife buried deeply under their chin. With you not even having registered your own movement._

_There was too much blood._

_Too much. On your hands, uncovered part of your face, everywhere._

_Your hands flew to your face, smearing grime and blood together as you could only stare mortified as their eyes lost their light. Not an expression of relief, but pure horror on their face._

_There was too much, blood still visible when you tried to close your eyes._

_It felt like the crimson stains weighed you down, pressing against your skin, coloring your very being._

_You never managed to move, a cry of agony escaping your throat –_

Though as your eyes snapped open, you noticed that you couldn’t utter a single sound. Somebody having placed themselves on top of you, their bodyweight pinning down yours and one hand covering your mouth and preventing you from screaming.

Purple.

There were agitated purple flames swirling from the figure, irritation apparent in the clear white orbs you’d learned to identify as eyes when it came to fire-elementals.

Despite the heaving for air, the voice that sounded from the monster was smooth and deep. The kind of voice you would think twice about trusting.

”This just isn’t my lucky day.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> U all know who dat prick is. 
> 
> and if you don't. 
> 
> well, good riddance ( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°)


	11. Acquaintance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For someone supposedly spending a lot of time around soldiers, this monster is really not taking the precautions when it comes to attempting to hold one down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ///Cries
> 
> I am so, so sorry about the hiatus. I lost 1,5 chapter because I bought a new computer and failed with transferring some of the files from my ancient one. But I hope to start updating this story consistently again, mostly because I already have the entirety of it planned out to some degree (mostly main scenes but still, it's going to be a ride) and I really want to see it through. 
> 
> So I hope I haven't lost all support from you guys, and I hope that I can manage to keep my word! Cheers!

Despite the security and general sense of safety you’d felt so far within the duration of your stay in Haven, there was one thing that any seasoned survivor knew about their fellows.

Do not touch them after waking up.

So of course, like any other person with severe trauma and having just lived through another one of your horrid flashbacks.

You lashed out.

Despite the elemental’s weight on your chest and the hand forcing your head down, he hadn’t limited your arms. Which, in all honesty when having any sort of ulterior motives towards keeping someone down, was a rather stupid move.

Adrenaline and aftershocks of horror coursed through your veins, making your hand shot up, colliding the base of your palm against his chin. Something that would’ve sent most humans to dreamland. But this monster seemingly wasn’t able to receive concussions, since he only let out a grunt and a curse as his hand flew up to cover the offended area.

With his balance further back, you were now able to, without thinking, bring up an elbow to knock him to the side and off the bed. Another baffled sound of pain resounded from the harsh connection of elbow-to-jaw and with practiced ease, you followed his descend off from the bed and onto the floor.

Not even thinking much about it, you quickly grabbed his one arm and forced up and behind him as you placed one of your knees against his back. 

Gasping for air, you had to blink a few times before the situation actually settled in your mind.

Below you, the elemental was surprisingly not trying to break out of your hold – not like he could anyways, it was one of the most efficient locks when it came to it. Instead, he let out an annoyed huff of air.

“Damn soldiers, always so _fucking jumpy_.” He then turned his head slightly, trying to see if you’d actually fully woken up. “You can let go of me now, I’m no fighter and this is a pain.”

You didn’t release him, thoroughly confused “Who are you? What the hell are you doing in my room?” tightening your hold slightly, you made it clear that he had to answer if he wanted to keep himself out of harm.

The blood in your veins were moving too fast.

Scoffing, the elemental grumpily replied with a “I was looking for somewhere to hide from that insane doctoress.” 

Doctoress? Did he mean Toriel?

Well with little other choice – there was the possibility of keeping him in the lock but it honestly wouldn’t change all that much, you let go of his arm and stepped back to actually make this conversation somewhat civil. Despite the odd start. To his credit, he actually didn’t do much more than sit up once he was released, staring at you with a cocked eyebrow.

“So, are you going to flip or something?”

Were you? After experiencing so much on the field, a thief wasn’t really all that nerve-wracking to be near. “Not really. I just don’t really get why you didn’t just leave while I was still sleeping, or really why you jumped in a window in the middle of the night, if not to rob or kill me.”

“Hey now, I’m nowhere as big an asshole as to do that. I had to hurry since the doctoress isn’t really a big fan of me, to put it mildly.” He shrugged, “So I saw the open window and jumped in. After that I just didn’t want you to scream like a fucking banshee.”

“Nothing’s really stopping me.” You huffed, leaning your chin on your knees as you curl up against the side of your bed.

“Ah,” a smirk crossed his features. “But you’re not.”

Taking a closer look at the monster, you noticed that he was dressed sharply. A white shirt with black pants that suited him professionally. Pair it off with any sort of black jacket and you’d have a full suit.

How odd.

In response to his previous cheeky statement, you just grimaced. You probably should have tried to summon the healer the moment you had him on the ground, but something in the back of your mind nagged you not to do it. That, and you were curious about this indigo-colored elemental.

Compared to the more worn and probably softer features of Blue and Grillby, this guy seemed somewhat… sharper. His smile more prominent in his other features and eyes slightly tilted. You wondered for a second if it was on purpose or not, because it certainly gave him a less trustful appearance.

Huh, did he say that he wasn’t a fighter? “You’re not with the scouts?” you tilted your head, unsure if you had heard correctly.

A crackle of a laugh rung out from the elemental before he managed to catch himself, not wanting to make too much noise. “Like hell. They can only force me to even try and fight at the worst emergencies. Otherwise, I’ve got my own business to run.”

He then eyed you, “Now that I think about it, you’re probably that human people are talking about. The one that the two other G’s dragged back with them after Blue managed to stop Grill’s suicide mission.”

Well that certainly caught your attention. “What suicide mission?” you asked, straightening.

But at that moment, you apparently spoke a little too loudly, since both of you startled at the sound of heavy footsteps thundering down the hallway outside of your door.

At the sound, a sneer crossed the monster’s features, “hah, seems like that’s my rollcall.”

The elemental quickly made his way back over to the window. Though he took a few precious moments to graze his fingers over one of the scratches on your cheek.

The purple light he gave off brightened for a moment as his deep voice rang out. “The name’s Grimby, come to my bar sometime.”

And with that, he made a marginally less impressive exit. Hoisting himself out of the window with his long limbs seemingly giving him a challenge, luckily this was the ground floor.

As you watched him go, you just barely managed to register whatever it was that had just occurred before your door was hastily opened.

Toriel, with flames flickering along her fur and a relatively clear mood of ‘on the hunt’ stood in the doorway, her figure screamed displeasure and anger as she quickly surveyed the room. With the odd situation in general, you just stood dumbfounded and stared at the open window.

Muttering under your breath, “Well, that just happened.” you waited expectantly for the large monster to calm down, or enter a state relatively close to being calm so that she might be able to cast a little more light on your befuddled situation.

When she’d seemingly deemed your room acceptable, a heavy huff sounded from deep within her chest as the flames flickering along her fur started to dissipate. “I’m sorry ____, I’m afraid you just received a greeting from a rather disapproving person.”

“A greeting… I guess you could call it that.” Speaking, you took a few steps to sit back down onto the side of your bed. “Who-“

She briskly cut you off, “Those questions will have to wait, we’ve got a few more hours until sunrise and I need to report to the guard that they need to tighten the security around this place again.” Again, the flames appeared and then immediately snuffed out as she tried taking in a calming breath. “There’s been a bit too many _incidents_ these days and I need to prepare for the announcement to the family.”

And with that, she turned on her heel and resolutely strode out of your room.

Well that was something.

Taking a moment to try and recover from the stunning appearance of both monsters, you laid back down under your sheet, very well aware that you were unlikely to actually fall back asleep. Transfixing your eyes to the small marks of wear decorating the ceiling, you felt the adrenaline course through your body and slowly settle as the wee hours of the morning started to approach, bringing forth a new day.

…Honestly, it could be worse.

Looking up at the slightly tint of the atmosphere, the sickly-green clouds swerving overhead, you took the moment to regain your breath from wherever it had gone once your back had collided with the padding of the sparring-mat.

“Good riddance ____, you’ve got some sort of concussion? Get back up here!” the jarring order was shouted somewhere above your left shoulder, whereas a glance confirmed that it was where your partner was standing, a positively wicked grin on her features.

 _Why did you have to spar with the captain of the guard when you were with the scouts?_ Honestly you weren’t entirely sure. You’d taken a few more days of resting mixed with Blue and Grillby showing you the major points of interest within the magical barrier. Whereas now it seemed that both of your current companions were busy, and with your body feeling better and better by the minute you also felt that you were wearing out of shape by only taking walks and getting a little better acquainted with the different people that also stayed at the hospital.

You’d gotten especially friendly with Dummy, getting used to ignore the nauseating movements of his many odd limbs that seemed to have been hastily put together, he was actually rather fun to talk to. Even with his particular taste for irony and sarcastic quips.

That was where he’d given you the suggestion to try and train, if you were so stubbornly set on being in the scouts, you might as well get to know the other parts of the defenses of Haven. That was… something you hadn’t really thought too much about, being a scout back at Marina hadn’t really proven much in terms of working together.

Nevertheless, you’d taken the suggestion with a positive outlook, the chance to socialize with others than Dummy and the pair of fire elementals might prove to be good.

But now, honestly, with your muscles screaming in agony and a slight headache beginning to form behind your eyelids, you had a rather creative string of words to tell your past self. Maybe even sparing a few for Dummy, since he’d been the one to mention it.

Righting yourself with a huff, you took the same position as previously, with your arms raised for defense and your feet wide apart. Undyne grinned and immediately charged back at you with all the vigor that she’d displayed ever since she’d dragged you into the ring.

You continued to follow the same pattern as you’d done previously. Dodge. Weave. Block. Attempting to strike back. Strike failed and you end up on the ground.

Goodbye dignity.

At your apparent surrender, Undyne let out a loud laugh, finally granting you permission to sit and look on from the sidelines. You didn’t crawl off the mat. But it was damn close.

When you’d managed to sit and watch Undyne obliterate two other unfortunate competitors, whereas one was a bipedal dog that seemed to have the highest chance of returning her attacks. Though, once, when Undyne stood completely still, he seemed like he was unable to really see her, and it permitted the fish monster to deliver a harsh strike to his ribs. Ouch.

“You’ve gotta do better than that Doggo!” Undyne grins, wiping sweat from her brow. “You can’t keep expecting the other to move, and if you can’t see them, then listen!”

Watching with an increasing state of exhaustion, you didn’t manage to register the presence approaching you from behind.

“You seem about as combat ready as any of those in the guard. Not a lot of those stick-up-in-the-ass scouts manage to get back up after sparring a round with the captain.” The voice was deep and slick.

Things prick to the front of your mind; Late night visit. Haughty words. Anger. Fear for your safety. Purple.

“Grim-erh, was it?” You smiled awkwardly up at the monster, noticing that he owned a little more height than the two other elementals you know.

“Grimby, Grim, person that you straddled last night. Any of them works.” When you fully turned to look at him, you noticed that an addition to his black outfit, was a rather sophisticated addition of an overcoat.

You smirked slightly, “Seems like You've got quite the reputation with Toriel.”

“Ah, something of a long story together, brings a tear to my eye that she still cares.” There is no possibility of him actually, truly, realistically shedding tears, but he made the motion nonetheless. Seemed like someone had a dramatic flair.

You were a little hesitant, not knowing how to keep the conversation going. But it seemed that your worries were unnecessary. Grim had approached you with a goal in mind. Slipping a small card into your hand, he leaned down to whisper in your ear.

“Sadly can’t stay for long, even the guard doesn’t care for ‘someone of my talents’. Instead I’d like it if you came and visited me soon, as I said before, but to make sure here’s my digits. I promise it’ll be a good time ____.”

And with that, he left.

The remaining day was spent wondering about the small scribble on the piece of cardboard. A pure black card, with elegant white writing. You hadn’t seen anything manufactured like this since before everything went to shit, Haven really was something else. For now, you had tucked the card underneath the pile of formal clothing you’d used for your audience. Besides from that, Toriel had also proceeded to hand you several other practical outfits, with one of them being the uniform of the scouts.

Soaking in one of the smaller tubs, you scrubbed the last remains of the dirt from the mat off your skin. The small moldsmal keeping you company. It really was kind of cute, even with the lacking features. The way it acted all excitedly when you let it gnaw on your fingers and joined you in the tub was rather adorable.

As you rubbed an especially sore spot on your skin, you let out a contended sigh. This was nice.

It’d been a few days, but you were already much more comfortable than you’d been when you first entered Haven.

The moldsmal chirped at you, having climbed onto your shoulder as you slowly sank further into the tub. Not distressed, but curious.

“’m fine buddy. Just saving these nice moments for when I’m out in the field.” Stroking your fingers over the surface of the small thing, you cooed calmly.

“I think I could get used to living here. Really.” It was a difficult admission to make. Getting attached was faulty and brought unnecessary worries with it, but you couldn’t help yourself. These last few days had been the most pleasant in years.

The moldsmal just chewed on the small crystal sticking to your skin, making you smile. “c’mon you can’t eat that. I need it.”

It just chirped at you in response.

For a minute, you reveled in the calm peace settling over you. Then someone approached your unofficial tub, making you jump slightly and crane your neck to look behind you.

It was Dummy. As always sporting a new arrangement of doll and mannequin parts, he looked slightly less gangly than usual. Guess being a ghost makes it hard to really get a hang on how so many body parts are supposed to work together.

“Scooch, I’m gettin’ in.” Obliging his request, you made space for him to sit himself down, noticing a tear in some of the fabric around his neck.

“You okay there Dummy? Seems like you’re losing some stuffing.”

“Huh?” he slaps one of several arms up onto the rip, “Shit- Damn, must’ve gotten caught onto a branch, probably tore the stitching. Rude bastards.”

You had little understanding of why he’d address trees like they were sentient, but you didn’t rightly want to point it out now. Dummy had bit of a screwed perception of the world.

Instead, you choose a lighter topic; “So you were out scouting today? Found anything?”

Pinching the rip shut, he shrugged with as much ability as his limbs allowed him. “Some sods, a few by-products of said sods, no survivors today. Probably won’t find any tomorrow either, there’s barely any around within ten days of walking that aren’t already within Havens walls.”

“Hmm.” You hummed uncommittedly. Thinking.

“But gimmie the soap and I’ll clean that shrub of hair on your head.”

Not like you hadn’t already washed it, but Dummy apparently liked to play with your hair. And it wasn’t like you minded it, rather, it felt like you might’ve grown on the stubborn monster more than he’d liked. An accomplishment compared to your short span of acquaintance.

“Sure.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's not even as long as some of the previous chapters, but I'm still glad that I managed to finish it! Writers blocks sucks!!


	12. Ready, set...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It sometimes helps to keep everything simple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been two months... I FEEL SO BAD IM SO SORRY!
> 
> Me: But anyways, I'll TRY to keep up a schedule after this, since I really want to see this story through before another year has passed 
> 
> Also me, having exams soon: aaa!

Your first real official mission was rather untraditionally delivered. No big man calling you in and throwing orders at you that mostly went over your head, most of it hadn’t seemed to matter once you’d gotten out into the field, so you would usually just zone out when the leader of Haven sent you out to scout. Most cities liked to attempt to keep something akin to a system up, akin to before everything went down, but they were useless in practice. After all, the only principles that you really had to follow when outside were simple.

Stay alive.

See if there are any survivors or rations.

Retreat the moment you run into anything, your life shouldn’t be lost to any attempt at being heroic.

But in Haven, the procedures seemed to be a lot less complex than most other places liked to attempt to set up. When just about a week after your first tumble with the feared captain of the guard, you found Blue standing nearby while you were busy getting your ass handed to you once again.

Undyne was just as merciless, if not more, compared to a week prior. You felt like you were spending more time with your face in the mat than standing, and you would swear that you’d received enough taunts for her vocabulary to run out, but it never did. Even if a few nicknames stuck, she kept shooting new and fresh one-liners about your stance, technique, and stamina.

_“_ _Keep your body ready and your mind sharp! We need you to come back from out there!_ _”_

Finally, when you managed to drag yourself out of the ring, permitting some other pair of combatants to challenge each other. You found a familiar glow standing in the edge of the crowd as the sun was starting to set, letting the gentle flicker of flames reflect onto nearby surfaces.

Jogging over – with only a slight limp, despite all your mental whining, you were definitely getting better with facing the strong monster on the mat – you cheerily called out to the elemental. “Blue, nice to see you again.”

He was wearing his scouts uniform, apparently having just arrived from the field. Him and Grillby had been in and out of the city in small bursts, so you hadn’t been able to see much of either, as you had also focused on getting back on your feet.

“Yeah, it’s been too long, sorry that I haven’t really been around.” He smiled at you nonetheless, reaching forward to run a hand through your sweat-streaked hair. “seems like you’ve been busy too, Undyne getting you back into shape?”

“Yeah, it’s erh –“ you shot a gaze back to the ring, noticing that the captain was an onlooker to the current match. “It’s something for sure, no doubt about that.”

Blue followed your line of sight, “Bet it is, I’ve long since stopped accepting her challenges, my pride gets too bruised after a while.”

You noticed, for a flicker of a second, that his posture changed slightly. His weight shifting to favour his right leg compared to the left. Miniscule, but there. He was hurt.

“You’ve visited Toriel yet?” watching him from the corner of your eye, you also caught onto the slight wince. “You’ve been here longer, you know she wants everyone to check in when coming back.”

Blue is at the very least honest enough not to deny what you were hinting at, instead, he just leaned heavily onto your shoulder for support while prodding your cheek with his free hand. “Didn’t think you’d be such a stickler for that kinda thing, and yet here I came, right from a convo’ with the big guy to give you a message.”

You swatted at his hand. “What message? Doesn’t he want to drag me in and talk to me before sending me back out there?” When he stops with the teasing, you motion for him to instead throw his arm over your shoulders so that you could help him a little better.

With a grimace, Blue obliged your silent request. “Yeah well, if that’s what you’re used to we could make it so that it works that way. But here we honestly don’t see the need.” He then waved out with his hand, gesturing towards the guard. “For reports after a round, sure, then its sorta necessary to talk to the big boss so that he knows what’s going on. Otherwise, it’s more likely that you’ll receive the order from a friend that has just reported. Saves time for all parties involved.”

“I see…” Nudging him in the direction of the medical facility, you pondered about that for a moment, “So what are the orders then?”

“Well, since we all know that you’re a part of the scouts now. We kinda wanted to make you go with a group to start sorting through everything to the west of here.” Blue’s steps were slightly more marked now that he permitted himself to lean on you. He must’ve taken quite a hit.

“West? Why only the west?”

“Because we’ve gone through everything in a forty-kilometre radius to the east and south. We’re trying to systematically go through the areas and make sure that we don’t miss a single bit that could be useful. Also, very helpful with figuring where herds are and clearin’ them out.”

You just hummed at that. Makes a lot of sense. “So who am I gonna be grouped up with?”

Blues steps faltered for a split second, seemingly stepping wrongly in some way and you almost felt like the two of you would topple over. You had some muscle, but despite what one would think, beings made of fire were _not_ light.

After a minute, Blue seemingly managed to push away the pain. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine.”  You shifted under his weight, attempting to find your own balance. “Let’s focus on getting you to Toriel.”

That just made him grumble under his breath, you ignored it.

The rest of the walk was spent in relative silence, with the slight agitated crackle from your companion. When the designated building finally was within sight, Blue made an attempt of pushing you off – likely as not to show weakness to the healer, but you were having none of that.

“Keep that up and I’ll be abandoning you to take care of the explanation to Toriel yourself.” You felt just a bit haughty as you felt Blue tense at that. Like you actually would, but within the time you’d known Blue, you knew that he didn’t really give in unless you made sure to be a bit stern.

“Don’t be like that ____,” Blue all but whined, “Don’t leave me alone with her, she knows how to manipulate magic like none other than the boss. Her treatments can hurt!”

_Pain licking up your spine, exhaustion dragging your limbs down-_

You just smiled at him and squeezed the hand you had around his middle a little tighter as you shook off the memory. “Just kidding Blue.”

“Ah, I feel so attacked, this truly is the worst” and then you were both through the door.

Finding Toriel, getting Blue fixed and all in all getting everything in order was simple and you both ended up in your room within the maze of corridors littering the hospital. With you sitting on your bed and him in one of the chairs.

You leaned back onto your arms, keeping your attention fixed onto the relaxed elemental. “So, what’s the thing you were going to tell me about before? Orders from Asgore or something?”

Blue clicked his tongue in reply, which in hindsight shouldn’t have been fully possible with him not containing any sort of liquid that could create the sound. Flames you supposed.

Nevertheless, with what seemed like a great effort, Blue stretched and finally began to speak. “About that, you got the part with you having to scout and all that yadda yadda right?”

You nod. “You were just about to tell me what team I’m going to be working with.”

“Right,” another click, and Blue leaned back slighty, tilting the chair. “So, ‘s a bit unorthodox, but you’ll be working with a bit of a flexible group. We usually don’t like to only send out in teams less than three unless we know that they won’t easily die, take Dummy as an example, he’s killing plods right and left, nothing really phases him because it isn’t his real body he’s working with.” The chair seemed for a split-second like it might topple over as Blue overcompensated the weight from his feet, but he managed to right himself at the last moment.

He coughed, probably trying to hide a startled sound working its way up his throat. “But yeah, you’re gonna be working with Dummy as a duo squad when on short trips, the ones where you just need to get out, scout the area and return. But the next comes in _when_ you find something and need to retract it without risking yourselves. Here’s the option of either me, Grillby, Doggo or Mettaton to come with you. Even though Mettaton is rarely reliable to show up with his continued interest in entertainment instead of his real position with the scouts.”

You nodded, taking a short moment to process what had just been said. “Uh, did he mention _when_ he’d like me to start this? Because I’m still new to the system,” you gestured to your still-newly-acquired gem sticking to your wrist, “and I don’t know much more of the scouts than what Undyne’s been telling me in-between kicking my ass.” That last bit wasn’t much at all to be entirely honest. She’d only told you about a few details here and there, nothing really solid.

Apparently Blue couldn’t hold back a bark of laughter at that, “ _Really?_ Nobody’s been telling about how it works?” When he then shot a look at you and saw your further confused expression, he snickered _loudly_ and kept talking, “it’s really simple, you talk to the others, set up your connection to the crystal, go and get stocked up at the storage and then just _go._ ”

“What?” no bloody way it worked like that, “You’ve gotta be pulling some bullshit on me Blue, because that sounds so, so –“ You momentarily lost your inner dictionary and, without a proper word to fully describe the furious denial from that description, you just pointed a finger at the cackling monster. “Just – No way!”

He grinned, jagged teeth showing from the flames, “Yes way, of course coordinating it with the others is essential, but don’t worry too much about the details for now, let the vets take care of that and focus on getting used to the routine.”

You couldn’t help but run your hand through your hair, noticing that you were still sticky and gross. “Fine,” you huffed, “But I need a bath now, so unless your body is suddenly waterproof I’d guess you’d like to spend your time somewhere else.”

That made Blue bark out a laugh, “You’re right about that, I’d also better make myself scarce since I have to go and get cleaned up. Have to check in with some of the others and gather in and see when we’re free.”

You stopped amid digging through your meagre wardrobe, “’We’?”

“Well yeah,” Blue laughed, “not everything is dull around here, and we haven’t introduced you to the rest of the crew, so I thought a gettogether would be good.” He then stopped mid-stride, halfway through the door, looking a little uncertain.

Before he could start to doubt his decision, you spoke up; “Sounds good Blue, I’m just not sure where there is a place to hold such a thing.”

“You just leave that speculation to me ____, I have everything planned.” And with that, he exited your room.

In the following bath and change of clothes, you couldn’t help but try and process all the new information about your situation. You felt both parts split about how to take the news of you being assigned to a group, with one part thrilled to get to work together with your friends (were they friends at this point? Or just acquaintances? Co-workers? Oh well, you’d take that as it came) and another felt hesitant about venturing back outside of the safety of the walls of Haven.

As for everything about the gathering, it honestly sent you onto pins and needles of slight bursts of anxiety every time you start dwelling on it. Social gatherings had never been your thing, and even if it was a small crowd, you’d always stuck to the outskirts. But this time you’d know Dummy and Blue and Grillby, so creeping away didn’t seem as right when they were there.

You felt a slight headache growing. Maybe you should stop thinking about this.

Venturing back to your room, you heard people yelling in the room adjacent to yours, building onto the slight pounding in your head. You then proceeded to lie face-down on your bed and let out a pathetic whine.

You really should get stuff ready for the trip with Dummy.

But soft bed.

Finally, after what you could only estimate was roughly half an hour, you managed to guilt-trip yourself into getting ready to head out.

Only to walk straight into somebody, just as you exited the room, making you bounce back and hit your head on the doorframe.

The hit inflamed your already persistent headache and you could only curl in and clutch your poor skull while waiting out the wave of pain.

You hadn’t managed to register much about _who_ you’d managed to bump into so spectacularly. But after a few heartbeats had passed, they seemingly decided what course of action they wished to take with you being in apparent pain, as you felt a soothing and familiar touch of healing magic seeping through your fingers to the damaged area from the hand placed on top.

“Are you well?” oh, _oh!_ your untimely visitor had been _Grillby_.

“Yep,” you replied, wincing as the pain started to ebb, “Sorry, it’s my bad, didn’t see you there.”

“It is fine.” His hand on top of yours squeeze your fingers reassuringly.

You took the chance to remove your hands, permitting his hand to make direct contact with your scalp to ease the strain on his powers with applying the magic. After a moment, his deep voice rang out once again as he spoke, “I am afraid that you seem to have a habit of attracting injuries.”

“And you seem to have the perfect timing when it comes to only running into me at those times,” you quip back, feeling the headache as well as the pain fade away and letting out a relieved sigh “Lucky me, when you have healing hands, Blue would probably just make fun of me.”

“He wouldn’t,” But there’s a bit of humor hidden in the tone of the elemental, “Well considering the severity of the wound, but he would keep the teasing to a minimum, considering his own record.”

You let out a small laugh, “Seems like there’s a story that I need to hear there.”

“Perhaps.” And you finally managed to raise your head to meet Grillby’s gaze. “But it will have to be saved for another time, I came here to ask if you needed anything for when you are going to head out.”

“Oh, I’m not even sure about when me and Dummy will head out. I just came back from the baths.” You smiled though, appreciating the gesture.

“That is no issue,” and that’s when you both noticed that his hand was still lightly cradling the back of your head, Grillby pulling away almost like he was startled. “I can accompany you while finding him.”

“Thank you.” You then managed to rise to your full height, which didn’t actually reach much more than a little over Grillbys shoulder. Man, how tall would the average monster be? So far all of them have been at the very least a good head taller than you.

Yeah, ok, not the moldsmal. That little fellow was as small and cute as physically possible.

Dropping the line of thought, you shot Grillby a small smile as you lead on through the corridors.

The two of you had to ask around for Dummy while striding around. He’d last been seen near one of the booths that were setting up, since he could help stacking the inventory, and so you found him in the middle of balancing quite a large pile of items on his many available hands.

For a monster made of discarded limbs, Dummy was seemingly very good at using them.

When spotting the two of you, the gangly-looking monster yelled out a very lovely greeting of; “Hey you two, stop being useless and help me!”

“Nice to see you too Dummy,” you muttered under your breath as he dumped several boxes in your grasp, and then raised your voice some, “I wanted to talk about the scouting detail. When do you think you’ll be ready to go?”

“Me?” another box added to your stack, “I’m fine whenever, don’t really need much more than my gear. It’s you squishy humans that need to make sure to bring all of that gear to keep yourselves alive.”

You kicked your leg out to hit one of his shins, “call me squishy again and I’ll make sure that Undyne uses you for warmups the next time we’re bound for sparring.”

That earned you a grin that showed way too many teeth. “In your dreams ____.”

Even with the three of you working to help the owner of the stall, and finishing up fairly quickly, there was several other stalls down the row that followed to ask for help, it took some time before you and Dummy actually managed to set down a specific date and time; in two days by sunrise, as to save time.

Grillby had been quiet most of the time, only supplying the occasional comment and coming over to assist you when Dummy overestimated your strength, removing some of the boxes and carrying them as well as his own load.

All in all, it was a pretty nice evening.


	13. Going and settling.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You're slightly out of practice with some things, casual conversations being one of many.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, again I feel so bad having stretched this for almost 4 months. But life has been shit. That's p much all there is about it. 
> 
> But I'm soon completely done with school (whoo!) and following that I'll hopefully get some more motivation towards the more creative ways when I'll only have work to worry about.

“Duck!”

You let out a rather undignified yelp at the projectile shooting past you, embedding itself in the plod moving in on you from behind. At the dull thud from it connecting, you dropped and rolled forwards, cursing the untimely action of Dummy, despite saving you from getting jumped from behind, you would like there to be less knives in the air.

Floating knives, would you look at that.

Regaining your balance, and consequently taking the chance to use the momentum of you leaping back up to your feet to swing your machete in one circular motion, efficiently capping off the head of your untimely visitor.

Wiping the blood and acid off your tool, you point one disgruntled finger at Dummy, “I would like a warning next time!”

That just made him laugh, “You’ll have it if you manage to drop that solo-army attitude of yours then. Charging in, even with a small group like this. You’re not happy with keeping all your limbs if you do that.” A tug of magic, and the knife flies back to join the others sheathed within Dummy’s body.

A little morbid, seeing that he doesn’t care about the state of his borrowed multitude of parts.

You’d asked about it and he’d just shrugged, saying it doesn’t matter since it wasn’t his real body.

“I’m doing just fine, thank you very much.” You grumble at him, walking over to pick up the bag you had dropped when engaging.

“Sure,” he garbled from half-made voice chords, considering that he kept a knife lodged in his throat. “I’m just gonna go back and tell your oh-so-devoted guardians that you are still keeping to your old habits. I’m sure they would let you go scouting without them after that.”

That made you slap his shoulder, careful of not hitting any area that could possibly contain a very sharp edge. “Don’t even joke about that. And they’re not my guardians, Grillby and Blue are just my friends.”

He grinned, “Never quite seen them quite as panicked as when they returned with you, both all riled up and emitting protective magic like they had unlimited power stored up in them.”

“Stop that!” you snorted, “I felt so useless that day, don’t remind me.”

Dummy just ignored you, keeping up the commentary; “Never quite thought that Grillby would actually return, but here he is, all because of you. A common human with a tendency to mess themselves up.” He then reached up to ruffle your hair, making a few dead leaves escape your tangles. “Seems like you need a trip to the bathhouse again.”

You swatted his hand away, shooting him a glare. “I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, thank you very much.”

“Not saying that you aren’t. ‘s just that they’ll have my hide – erh, relative hide if you get hurt while I’m right here.”

You finally read between the lines, noticing Dummy’s own indirect way of worrying. Grasping onto your slightly riled up temper, you drew in a deep breath through the filters of your mask. “It’s fine, I’m sorry for charging in.”

Having taken the time to get ready, the days after that busy afternoon you’d mostly been occupied with getting acquainted with the large storehouse that kept the large number of weapons and other knickknacks used by the different people in Haven.

Now, you had been equipped with a much higher quality arsenal of knives, a handful of flares, a short axe and a scout’s uniform – a rather standard piece of clothing, with a military style, despite it being rather comfortable, as the set you were presented was a normal hoodie, jacket, pants and a sturdy pair of boots.

Gesturing to the four dead bodies on the ground, you shook your head. “So, they derailed us a little, are we still on track?”

“Yeah, no biggie. Crystal keeps you in line.” You were still a little taken aback considering the many uses of the small stone, also how no one had taken the time to sit down and try to explain them to you.

So you just looked down on the small device stuck to your wrist, contemplating how many people could have been saved if everyone had one of these. “Fancy. Good to know.”

“Yeah, yeah. Learning is sort of a need-to-know basis thin’ here.” and then he stood for a moment, seemingly thinking about something.  

Then he asked the oddest question; “Have you ever thought of being together with somebody?”

You stood, dumbfounded for a moment. Your brain pausing for an indefinite amount of time with the out-of-the-blue question. All your silly mouth could speak was about as braindead as you felt.

“Why Dummy are you suggesting something?”

“Nah, not really, but-“ he then hesitated for another moment, something you’d yet to see from your forward-headed friend. “I think after everything you’ve been through, with Marina and everything that it would be good for you. I’ve seen how those two hopeless elementals keep actin’ around you, so I thought that they might’ve asked by this point.”

The thought of Grillby or Blue suggesting such a thing felt silly, silly and a large bit embarrassing. “I-I don’t think they’re interested in me that way Dummy.”

He shrugged, sheathing a knife in his thigh, “Eh, just letting you know, a good way to relax when the world is shit is to get nice and comfy with somebody.”

You looked dumbfounded at the monster, both at the insinuation to your own situation, and the image of Dummy getting it on with anybody. “Dummy, you- ?”

“Ah, don’t really have all the bits and whatnot, but it’s nice just to lay and cuddle. Some people even seek out others onl’ for that and whatnot, needing some physical touch,” He paused for a moment, idly pulling out one of the knives from his gut, “It helps keeping some of them grounded, stopping them from giving up when knowing that there are friends they can trust.”

You kept quiet for a minute, thinking. It was weird to consider that it almost sounded like they had yet another system set up, just for the ones that need someone to spend time with. Of course, you knew how it felt to seek others out just for something satisfying and physical, but you’d never thought that there were friends that would be willing to do that. It’d been anonymous the very few times you’d felt the need for another person, not leaving any ties.

_They could_ _’_ _ve been a lover_ _–_ _a friendly face_ _–_ _but all there was left was their damaged remains as you struggled to remove the mask_ _–_

The two of you kept moving after that, letting each other mull about the new information while keeping an eye out. The task of being outside again still set your nerves on their edge, but you hoped that with time, your mind would relax at the thought of you never being forced to traverse alone again.

The scouting itself was easy, keeping an eye out for anything that might be useful, like abandoned houses, healthy trees or otherwise greens and seeing if there was the possibility of survivors. Though the last one was unlikely in this area, when you’d finally reach any cities or buildings, it would be mostly industrial. It meant a lot of open spaces and a high risk of plods being about.

But being outside again, meant that you were still a little weak from malnutrition from before arriving at Haven, and from the recovery time you had to take. Even sparring with Undyne couldn’t help you with staying in shape to take up running large distances again. Maybe you should start going on runs through the city, as to explore and strengthen your legs.

Though it still took a while before you had to take a break, adjusting your mask slightly and checking over all your inventory before taking a drink of water.

Dummy was standing to the side, keeping an eye out and sniffing the air, of all things. “I think there’s something nearby,” he said while pointing to the side, “There’s probably a larger building in that direction, I can smell metal and concrete.”

“Alright,” you replied, putting your water away again. “Let’s go check it out.”

With a goal in mind, Dummy moved more with a purpose, pushing you to speed up as well. But you didn’t complain, the burn was rather pleasant, and you just pushed aside the stinging until your legs got used to it.

When arriving, you saw that he was right. It was huge. Probably an abandoned factory.

Also, deserted, though the supposedly comfort it should’ve provided didn’t sit well with you. Nothing was really left alone in this broken world. You sat on pins and needles as you looked closer at the building. No, there’s something, inside of it.

Probably lost loot that was forgotten when they had to abandon the factory. Likely crates and other forms of storage containers. Things that the beasts couldn’t break into.

Also, most likely some plods. They seemed to like gathering up in these sorts of places. Even with little to nothing to feed on, they still seemed to favour gathering in places where there once could’ve been people living.

Maybe a trait that followed their previous lives.

There’s a depressing thought.

In any case, you nor Dummy would be scouting out any of those storehouses without an added guard. Both for protection and lessening the risk of fatality, but also with vehicles that could transport anything too heavy to carry.

You shifted slightly in place, feeling something ominous in the way the place was eerily quiet. Leaning over, you kept your voice down when speaking to Dummy, “Want to go back for now?”

Eyes focused on the abandoned building, Dummy nodded. “The air is rotten, not worth the risk of a closer look.”

And with an unspoken agreement, both of you retreated as quietly as possible from the lookout, with you first really finding the room to breathe when leaving it far behind. A tense mood held its grip on both of you while finding your way back.

True to Dummy’s word, when wishing to head back, you feel a slight tug from the crystal attached to your hand. Interesting.

It takes a while, but with a steady pace, you both made it back to the city a good time before nightfall. Even when knowing that you wouldn’t be scouting horribly far, you still felt relief and a small ball of anxiety loosen in your chest when the tall walls of Haven appeared in front of you.

When entering through the enhanced barrier, you still felt yourself shudder and an uncomfortable pressure on your shoulders. It was to be expected with the sheer amount of magic that supported the barrier, but it still brought discomfort.

Waiting for your return was a couple of the guard, including Undyne. They were all standing too close by the entrance for it to be coincidence with the approaching darkness. Though they all just smile jovially at you and Dummy, asking about this and that from your trip and you leave Dummy give the official report. The scuffle in the forest hadn’t left your clothes nor hair in prime condition, and now that you had access to a fully functional bathhouse you intended to use it.

Your rooms were as you’d left them, with the small exception that the card you could swore you’d never seen before, was somehow laying innocently on top of your covers.

You stared at it for a moment, suspicion and curiosity mixing together within your mind as your eyes rest on the flaunting words. A bar, in this day and age. What a waste of resources.

But still, maybe a small visit couldn’t hurt. There was something interesting found in somebody having found enough customers to keep such a stable income when everything was basically ass on end. So, without further letting it distract you, you stuffed the card underneath a pile of clothes and let that thought simmer for now.

Moldsmal was still at the baths, just as attentive as previously and the small sweet interactions from it further soothed the stress from the day as you scrubbed grime and dirt off your skin. A serious thing, fighting plods were _not hygienic at all._

You changed back into a basic non-descript outfit, suited for exploring town and maybe tracking down some of your friends.

As you stepped outside, you feel the cool night-air breeze past outside of the hospital. The air has been heavy and humid for a few days now, with the last bits of summer now clinging on until late fall after the spread. This was a small promise of perhaps a mild winter. You sure hoped so.

Setting down the street at a slight jog – you’d promised yourself to build up stamina, while hoping not to push yourself too much and earn the ire of Toriel. And so, jogging while inside Haven should be ideal.

A lot of monsters and people were outside this fine night. Lanterns and lamps alike lit with magic and a bit of electricity. It almost felt like before the downfall.

Memories – more pleasant ones, buzzed to the forefront of your mind – but you pushed them back, not wishing for melancholy to mark your night. Slight wisps of hushed conversations carried to your ears as you trudged onwards and you marvelled at the sight of the lights spreading up the trunk of the giant tree and seemingly hanging from the many heavy branches. Faire lights. Mesmerizing, truly.

While nearing the plot where the market stalls litter, you see a familiar glow standing by and helping one of the booths with setting up. The light is warm and the presence of Grillby further calmed you.

You lowered your speed, setting a path over to your friend as you caught your slightly windy breath.

“Hey Grillby,” you made sure not to touch him before he managed to set down the box he was carrying and turned to see you.

A nod was given to you in acknowledgement, his actions speaking more for him than words as his hands slowly reached up to gently cup your face. The heat was comforting, especially with the slight chill in the air, and he drew a little closer as you shivered at the shift in temperature.

But you also knew where the sudden intimacy came from, “I’m fine,” you smile, “We didn’t manage to move too far away without hitting something useful. So, we made it in good time to get back.”

Thumbs circled slightly on your skin. Comfort more for his sake than yours, but also meant to soothe.

Tilting your head slightly, you covered one of his hands with yours before stepping away. Touch, as you’d learned, was more important to Grillby than speech. Isolation making intimacy less, well, _intimate_ and more a gesture of comfort.

Though, as much as you’d liked to have stolen your friend away from the work he was in the middle of, volunteering or not, you let go of his hand to instead go over to one of the benches placed by the edge of the market. You watched a bit passively as the bustle continued. Children, both human and monsters were running about, dodging between legs of parents and other adults while the sun steadily disappeared.

Huh, you’d think that it was close to their bedtime. Then you notice that many of the parents are watching and keeping an eye out to see which of the children would first begin to show signs of sleepiness. Smart.

From somewhere on your right, Grillby approached. It was really first when he sat down next to you that you noticed his presence.

“Are you well?”

You shrug, “I thought we already talked about that, no less than five minutes ago.”

“That does not mean I can ask again, you seemed dazed.” And then there’s a hand by one of yours, the touch a little less than the tips of your fingers pressing against each other. Again, although this time it strikes you as slightly odd, with how startled Grillby had been just a few days ago when touching you.

Maybe he’d had a revelation while you were gone.

Then you thought of the conversation with Dummy. About keeping companions for the need for touch and to lessen the loneliness. You really didn’t know if you felt the same ease as Dummy obviously held for the subject, but you would admit that this, this was nice.

Just as you turned over the thought, leaning back slightly and closing your eyes as you rested for a moment, you felt someone approaching from the opposite side compared to where Grillby was sitting.

“Hey,” spoke a surprisingly gentle voice, “how did it go?”

Blue then proceeded to join the two of you on the bench, but something about his appearance must’ve discouraged Grillby, since he shifted his hand away from yours. A pity.

You just opened one eye slightly to gaze at Blue, “fine, given the circumstances. There wasn’t much we could do on our own so we came back after finding somewhere that could store something useful.”

After you spoke, Blue didn’t do much more than sit by you, expelling a heat so that you now felt about the same temperature all around. It was rather soothing.

“That’s neat,” his voice was still a lot more timid than usual, “but you look about to fall asleep right here, are you sure you don’t want to go back?”

“No, I’m fine,” you reassure him, “I’m not sleeping just yet, need to enjoy the market a little more.” That just made him stare at you oddly, which made you huff and close your eye again.

“How are you enjoying the market from all the way over here?” He leaned closer, you could feel it with the way the lights danced on your eyelids and the intensity of heat.

But his question made you laugh, a small one, but a display of amusement nonetheless. “There is more to a market than the items sold. There is the life that bustles around. The people, Blue, they are what makes it better for me to sit here rather than back in my little stuffy room.”

That made him quiet for a minute, moving a bit away again.

When he’d seemingly mulled it over, you heard him speak; “Fair, I can see your point.”

“Good,” was all you offered in return and you spend some time just enjoying the sounds as you slightly dozed.

At some point, you must’ve literally fallen asleep, as you were suddenly being carried through the streets, probably towards the hospital to your room.

You shift slightly, murmuring as you notice the elemental that was carrying you was Grillby. “Feels a bit familiar, hm?”

That made both him and Blue let out an amused noise. Blue was walking beside Grillby, apparently chatting to the other while making sure that you got back in one piece. The shirt you were kind of cuddling up against was very comfortable, and as such, you dozed lightly while listening to their conversation. Damn, today must’ve taken more out of you than you’d thought.

And as such, you were helped into the building, with a squeeze to Grillby’s hand as he set you down and a hug from Blue. Seems like they both were in a more touchy-feely mood. Well, no matter, you didn’t mind.

You sent them of with reassurances that, yes, you could in fact find your way back to your rooms without trouble.

Settling down on your sheets, you struggled with getting your boots off, just as an indigo light started to shine in your room.

“Well, do not stop for my sake.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't resist inserting this little shit at the end, let's see how this conversation is going to pan out.

**Author's Note:**

> So, this piece might be updating irregularly since I have way too many ideas that I want to write out at the same time. But if any of you think that it's been too long or just wanna give me some ideas or headcanons, you're welcome to talk to me at my tumblr [right here](http://costumebleh.tumblr.com/)


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